A deer's life
by MyLittleWorld15
Summary: Alicia, a human girl, is killed in a car accident. However, due to a arising danger, she is reborn as a fawn without memories of her former life. Although she is haunted by weird dreams, she grows up as a normal fawn with Bambi and his friends, takes part in the events of both movies, and is later confronted with her former life... Full summary inside
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story itself and my OCs.**

**Full summary****:** The human girl Alicia gets killed in an terrible car accident. However, due to arising danger for the Great Prince's forest, she is reborn as a fawn without memories of her former (human) life, but she has weird dreams about it every now and then, starting when she is nothing but a little fawn. But despite that, she grows up with Bambi, Faline and the others and takes part in the events of both movies, even changes a few scenes with being there, but not the main events. She grows up, makes friends, falls in love and founds her own family. But after the events of the first movie, she is confronted with her past life again...

Contains lots of OCs and Bambi & Bambi II out of another point of view.

* * *

**Prologue: One life's end is another life's beginning**

Alicia was a normal girl with a normal life. She was tall, slender, with long caramel-colored hair that flooded down her back in soft waves, laughing dark brown eyes and a warm, welcoming smile.

She loved her friends and knew they loved her, too, for she was funny, imaginative, cooperative and sometimes a little sarcastic, which could be a good thing from time to time.

She also loved her family, even though her older brother and her younger sister often annoyed her. Alicia often shouted at them, but she would never ever want to lose them if she was true to her heart.

Of course she had bad sides, too, like every other person. She could be as cold as the Antarctic, unforgiving and egoistic if someone got her _really_ mad by hurting her or offending her family. She never held back what she thought and often hurt feeling in her anger. But she would always feel sorry about it later and apologize for it. And she was a person who changed her opinion almost monthly.

But Alicia loved her life with all its ups and downs. When she wasn't with her family, she preferred spending her spare time with her friends. So she did the day that should end her life in a terrible way, the day her young, friendly heart should stop beating.

She was in town with her best friends, crossed a street and made jokes, laughing. There wasn't much traffic, so she didn't care about the cars which drove through the streets in a more or less sluggish way. Alicia went ahead, a few steps away from the group, and was completely absorbed by the story she told and showed her friends with the moves she made. Her friends laughed with and about her and didn't care for the traffic either.

But despite the fact that it was bright day, the driver of an approaching car was already very drunk. He didn't see the girl, and the girl didn't notice him either, although he drove in her direction much faster than he was allowed too. _Exactly_ in her direction.

When the man and the girls, especially Alicia, finally realized what was happening, it was already far too late. Like a scared roe deer, Alicia was standing In the middle of the street, stiff as a statue, her eyes widely opened. Although it seemed the car would approach her in slow motion, it really happened within mere seconds. She had no chance to stop her destiny.

She was hit with full speed and didn't even know what had happened when she suddenly lay on the street, badly bleeding, with ripped clothes and broken bones. Her breath went hard and fitful. She was scared, really scared, but her fear soon faded. And so did her life.

Her friends, who got away with nothing but a shock, were by her side at once, called the paramedic and told Alicia's parents about it under tears, their voices shaking hardly. But for Alicia herself, all this didn't count anymore. Everything seemed to be covered in thick fog; the words weren't understandable for her. And after a few rattled words she told her words, nothing was let at all.

Like many lives, hers was taken away by the stupidity of only one person. Alicia's family didn't get to say goodbye to her. The physicians couldn't do anything to help her. Alicia died while the driver lived.

The funeral was three days later. And on exact that day, while Alicia's family, friends and classmates were grieving, a little fawn was born, a fawn with dark caramel-colored fur and big dark brown eyes.


	2. Chapter 1: A new life

**Here's the first real chapter. If you want to know, I imagined Alicia looking a little like Natalie Portman, just younger, around 16 years old. If you want to know what she looks like as a fawn, look at my German Fanfiktion profile page (I put the link in my profile).**

**Just so you guys understand who the chars featured in this chapter are:**

**Alani = Alicia (she's a different being, they are just connected)**

**Ama = Alani's mother**

**Ria = Bambi's mother, I had to make up a name for her**

**Ena = Faline's mother**

* * *

**Chapter 1: A new life**

There is nothing that is as wonderful as a new life being born. It's almost magical. But giving birth is also very painful and exhausting. So the young doe was at the end of her powers when she turned around to look at her newborn fawn. Her light brown fur was dark from sweat and she was breathing heavily, but her brown eyes were bright with joy.

The little female, her first fawn, seemed to be only out of legs and wet fur. But she made little noises which sounded like bleating and tried to raise her head to look around. For her, it was very cold, since she was used to the warmth of her mother's body and her fur wasn't dry at all.

Following an instinct, the new mother (whose name was Ama, by the way) began to lick her fawn's fur to dry it. The more times she let her tongue brush over her daughter's body, the more the little one moved. It wasn't long until the tiny female looked around, curiously. Ama looked at her. The fawn's fur and eyes were darker than her mother's, but she had probably gotten that from her father, who had been killed by hunters a while ago. But Ama was happy as long as her baby was here. Her mate hadn't cared much for her anyway.

"Alani," she whispered and affectionately licked her daughter's head. "Your name's Alani."

Alani tilted her head. The fragile looking little being seemed to understand, but she couldn't answer her since he had just been born half an hour ago. Instead, she made cute little noises and actually smiled like her mother did. Ama laughed lovingly. She hadn't been that happy before in her entire life.

Some more minutes passed. The two deer spent the time nuzzling, sniffing and recovering from birth. Their mother-child-relationship grew stronger each moment. Even Ama was amazed.

Eventually, she realized she had to feed her daughter if she wanted her to live. Otherwise, her fawn would starve or not get the strength she needed to grow. Still a little exhausted, she got up and looked at the fawn. "Come on, my little one. You can do that, too."

Alani looked at her mother, clearly perplexed. She seemed to think; _How did she do that?_ Carefully she stretched her long folded legs and tried to rise from her lying position. But she soon noticed that it wasn't as easy as it looked when her mother got up. It didn't took much time for her to fall down again.

But the fawn wasn't willing to give up. She wanted to get close to her mother again. She made her feel safe because she was used to the sound of her voice. And in addition to that, she was warm and smelled good.

Ama nudged her daughter, encouragingly. After various failed attempts and many downfalls, Alani finally managed to stand up on her own. Although her legs seemed to be far too long and she was still kind of wobbly, she was proud.

The next problem Alani had to solve was finding out how to go. The way she walked looked a little as if she was drunk, but she reached her mother's side. Like her mother did when she started to dry her, she followed her instincts and nudged Ama's belly with her snout. The fawn could smell something delicious and warm. She followed the smell along her mother's light brown belly until she found the teats.

Automatically and very happily Alani began to drink and soon her mouth was filled with delicious milk that warmed her inwardly. She kept drinking for some time until she was full and sleepy. Exhausted she laid down again and so did her mother. Ama lovingly licked and nuzzled her fawn's head while Alani herself snuggled into her mother's side and quickly fell asleep.

"My baby," she kept whispering every now and then. Before Alani's birth, she had been afraid of not being able to handle the situation of being alone with a newborn and having the responsibility of raising a fawn all on her own, but now that she saw her sleeping daughter, all doubts were gone.

Tiredly, she closed her eyes to doze some time. But the whole time, her fine ears moved the whole time to record every sound in order to record danger at once. She seemed to hear every rustling leaf. She had to take care that her fawn was safe, after all.

Soon she sank into a light, soothing slumber. But her head shot up as soon when she heard a few snapping branches. Someone was coming closer. What if it was a wolf? Or worse, a bear?

"Don't worry, it's me," she suddenly heard a female voice she knew. Ama sighed in relief. For one moment, she had feared her heart would stop beating due to the shock. And if she was gone, who should care for Alani?

Another doe stepped into sight between the bushes and trees. Everyone could tell that she was pregnant. Her belly was rounder and much bigger than usual. Ama knew it could only be mere days until another fawn would open its eyes for the first time.

"Hello Ria," Ama greeted the other doe. They had been friends since they were fawns. The doe named Ria said hello, too, but then her attention was caught by the newborn lying next to her friend. She smiled because of the adorable sight before her. Ama, herself and Ena, another friend, had gotten pregnant around the same time and since then they had always wondered who would give birth first. It seemed Ama had won, for Ena had been peacefully grazing when Ria left the meadow to look for Ama.

"Oh Ama, congratulations, it's adorable," she said joyfully and beamed at her best friend, who looked back proudly.

"Thank you. I named her Alani," she told her and licked over the sleeping fawn's fur.

"A beautiful name. I thought about naming my fawn Bambi," Ria answered and smiled dreamingly. She couldn't await her fawn, her young prince or princess, to be born. Hopefully her baby had inherited much that would her remind of her mate. She wanted to be as happy as Ama looked. It wasn't as if she didn't grant her friend her luck with her whole heart, but the sight doubled her anticipation and longing.

Ama grinned. "That's a beautiful name, too. I just hope our young ones will get along well."

Ria laughed softly. She had thought about that to, but she didn't know anything to worry about. "With their mothers being best friends? I think they'll like each other," she answered. She looked at little Alani once again.

"I think I'll let you two have some sleep now. I'm sure we'll meet again soon," she said. Ama smiled and nodded.

"Hopefully we both have fawns with us then." She watched Ria going back until her friend was out of sight. Then she rested her head on the ground again to continue sleeping. She was certain that Alani and she would have a wonderful life together and that her daughter would one day be a clever, beautiful doe.


	3. Chapter 2: A walk through the forest

**Hey there! So here's the next chapter, where Alani meets other deer (male fawns, to be exact, who are possible later mates. But I'm not sure about that yet, so you can tell me your opinion if you'd like to).**

* * *

**A walk through the forest – New experiences, new friends**

The following morning, Ama decided to take a little walk with her daughter. Alani already began to develop an inquiring mind and clumsily stalked around inside their den, sniffed here and there and looked at everything with big, innocent eyes. Little did she care that she stumbled across her own legs every now and then. She was still learning, after all. After a while she walked up to her mother to drink some milk. Ama herself was a hungry, too, for she hadn't eaten since she gave birth to Alani and still fed her whenever the fawn wanted to. So she had to go out and find food.

After Alani had finished drinking, Ama stepped out of the den and looked at her daughter, expectantly, who followed her without hesitation.

Unhurriedly, Ama walked through the forest, while Alani was hopping around to take a close look at everything. There were so many funny animals! Little ones with long ears and big feet, animals which lived under the ground and even animals which hung from a branch upside down! And they all looked so different, not like her and her mother at all!

Ama stopped every now and then to eat something, but she kept watching her beloved fawn the whole time. When the little one ran away too far, she called her back. Obliviously, Alani already knew her name, what was a good thing considering how many times the curious fawn ran away.

"Hello, Ama," she suddenly heard a voice above her head. She lifted her head and spotted a squirrel approaching her by running over a few branches. The young doe smiled.

"Hello Ketri" she greeted her grey-furred friend. The female squirrel named Ketri looked at her and chuckled.

"It seems as if you have finally given birth of your fawn. Where is it? What's the name?" Ketri was more than curious. She herself had no offspring yet and didn't expect them in near future, but she couldn't wait seeing her old friend's fawn.

Ama turned her head and saw her daughter sniffing some flowers.

"Alani! Come here, sweetie!"

Alani raised her head, only to see her mother with a new interesting animal. Grinning, she ran to her mother's side, stumbled, but caught her balance just in time.

Ama brought her head to her daughter's height and explained: "Alani, this is Ketri. She's a friend."

Alani beamed and nodded like crazy, which was most likely her way of saying "Hello".

"Hello Alani, I'm glad to meet you," Ketri greeted the fawn.

Without any warning, Alani suddenly began to make sounds. "E-O," she said. In the first moment, Ama and Ketri were a little perplexed. Was Alani trying to speak? Seemingly she was, for she repeated what she had said.

"I think your daughter is learning fast, Ama," Ketri chuckled. She climbed down so she said right before Alani's face. The little fawn curiously started sniffing the squirrels fur.

"Stop it, Alani, it tickles," Ketri laughed and made an attempt to flee. But the curious fawn followed her.

"He, stop it!"

"He!" Alani repeated and looked at her mother to see if she had done it right. Ama smiled at her, proudly. She licked her head, causing Alani to laugh her cute, childish laughter. That tickled!

"Very good, sweetheart. Keep working, soon you'll be able to talk."

Ketri sighed contently because of the cute way the two deer acted. Young mothers always had an expression of heartfelt happiness on their faces. Ama did so, too; she seemed unable to stop smiling.

"I think I better stop bothering you. I have to keep going anyway," Ketri said. That wasn't entire true, but the two of them seemed to be so happy together that she felt as if every other animal would only destroy their peacefulness. Ama nodded understandingly.

"Okay. I hope we'll meet again anytime soon."

Ketri smiled. "I'm certain about that. Have a nice day!" She began climbing up the tree again and disappeared between the green leaves high above the ground. Alani stared at her, fascinated and curious, and stepped closer to the trunk of the tree.

"Alani! We have to go, dear!" Ama called her. Alani turned around to her mother and obeyed at once. She hopped to her side and followed her, getting better and better at walking.

The place where Ama wanted to go badly at the moment was the meadow. She couldn't wait to show Alani to Ena. Maybe she wouldn't even meet her brother so he could see his niece. But going there was too dangerous at the moment. If man, that terrible creature, was there, her baby wouldn't be able to flee.

So she was satisfied with eating leaves and herbs inside the protecting peacefulness of the thicket and watching Alani exploring her surroundings. Even the thought "The fawn over there is my baby" made her feel happier than she could explain.

After a while she felt thirsty, so she decided to go to a nearby creek. She looked at her daughter. Alani was sniffing a mice nest at the moment and laughed when the inhabitants came out to see what was happening. Those animals were so tiny!

"Alani, come to your Mama!"

Alani looked at her and tilted her head. "Ma…ma?" she repeated hesitantly, but still questioning and a little curious. She wondered how her mother would react.

Ama was surprised, happy and proud at the same time. The emotions flooded her body like a ray of sunlight. She was smiling broadly as her fawn ran towards her and snuggled up to her chest. Loving, she nuzzled Alani's fur. "Yes, I'm your Mama."

Alani understood that she had done something right. She began to jump around like a rubber ball and kept saying: "Mama Mama Mama Mama." Ama laughed out of joy, infected by her daughter's laughter and cheerfulness.

"Come on, let's go."

"Mama!" Alani exclaimed once again. Then she followed her mother, not wanting to lose her.

When they reached the creek, Ama began drinking in big sips without hesitating, her front hooves standing in the cool water. Alani tried to set a hoof inside it as well, but in her opinion, whatever it was was far too wet and cold to step into it.

Interested she watched her mother drink that clear stuff. Ama saw her daughter staring at her, raised her head and answered smiling, with water dripping off her nuzzle: "That's water. You can drink it, but I don't think you'll like the taste."

"Water?" Alani mumbled and lowered her head to try some of this…water. But her mother was right: she didn't like it at all! Milk was much better! Ama chuckled and continued drinking big sips. Bored, Alani looked around and noticed a few shaking branches in a bush a few meters away. She ran over to see if there was another animal to see.

What happened next was so fast that Alani had no time to react. Suddenly, something (or better someone) jumped out of the bushes and crashed against her with full speed. Surprised, she squealed and fell to the forest floor, knocked over by the stranger. Scared she raised her head and jumped on her feet as she saw an animal beside her that looked a lot like her.

It was another fawn, whose fur was darker than her mothers, but lighter than hers. His back was full of little white spots like hers and his eyes were green. He got up and growled angrily, staring at her from her head to her hooves.

She was smaller than him, with extraordinary dark reddish-brown fur, normal white spots, and big dark eyes which were surrounded by long eyelashes, which was a normal thing for female fawns. She was pretty, but she was also very young.

"Can't you pay attention where you're walking?" the stranger shouted at the scared girl fawn. Alani backed up a few steps. She wanted to answer, but she couldn't. The other fawn came closer, so she went backwards.

"Answer!"

"Ronno, where are you?" another young male voice asked. Ronno and Alani looked at the bushes the first named had come out before.

Now two more male fawns appeared, the first a few shades darker than Ronno, the second one noticeably lighter. Both had bright reddish brown eyes. They noticed Alani and stared at her with curious interest.

"Hey Ronno, who did you find here?" the lighter one asked. He took a few steps towards Alani, who backed up, still a little scared.

The darker one came closer, too, followed by Ronno. He looked at Alani with a friendly expression.

"There is no need to be afraid of us, beautiful. My name is Valentino, that's my brother Caio and the rough there beside me is named Ronno. And who are you?" He pointed with his head first at his brother, then at Ronno.

Alani swallowed hesitantly. What did those three want from her? She didn't assume they wanted to hurt her, at least those brown-eyed. Maybe they wanted to know what to call her. Yes, this was it.

"Ala…ni," she said thoughtfully. That was what her mother had called her all the time, hadn't she?

"Alani…that's a nice name," Caio said, smiling. Alani smiled back timidly. Maybe those other fawns were not that bad at all.

"Why are you wandering around on your own? It doesn't seem as if you know this place very well. Did you lose your family?" Valentino asked in a caring way. Alani seemed rather helpless and seemed to be scared. But three fawns that were just a few weeks old were nothing to be afraid of.

Alani's slightly confident became uncomfortable again. What should she answer? She didn't even know what they meant! Again, she swallowed and stared at the three fawns with wide eyes.

"Come on, answer!" Ronno demanded impatient. He was annoyed by this girl who was seemingly unable to speak in full sentences.

Alani desperately searched a way to get out of this awkward situation. And the only thing she could think of was calling the only word she really knew. "Mama!" she cried as loud as she could, hoping her mother would hear her. Of course her mother did. She wasn't far away, after all.

As soon as she heard the desperate cry, her head shot up and she ran to her daughter. When she saw her daughter and three more, by now very confused, fawns, she began to smile, knowing what the problem was.

"Hello," she greeted Valentino, Ronno and Caio. "I'm Alani's mother."

Valentino, who was the spokesman and oldest of the three male fawns, seemed relieved. He gave Ama a thankful smile. "That's good. She seems kinda lost and doesn't answer our questions. The only thing she told us is her name," he explained the whole situation. To his surprise, Ama chuckled. However, before she spoke to them, she licked her daughters head. Searching protection, Alani had snuggled up to her mother's chest.

"She doesn't answer because she doesn't know how. She's only one day old and hasn't learnt how to speak yet."

"Oooooh," all three of them said with an expression that said that they had realized something important. Caio smiled.

"That explains everything. We're sorry, we didn't intend to scare her," he apologized. Ama smiled kindly.

"There's nothing to excuse for."

Valentino and Ronno smiled, only Ronno had an annoyed expression. But with Ronno being impatient, it was a normal thing, so his friends really didn't care. Caio, who already started to like Alani, had an idea. With a friendly expression he took a few steps in Alani's direction, who gave him an bashful smile.

"Hey Alani, wanna play tag with us? It's real fun and I'm sure you'll like it." Cautious, he looked at Ama. "Of course only if you're okay with it."

Ama liked the idea, so she nodded. It was most likely a good think if Alani made friends in an early age like this. She knew Valentino's and Caio's mother and was sure she was raising her sons into well-behaved young stags. But she wasn't sure about Ronno.

She lowered her head so she could look into her daughter's eyes. "If you want to play with them, do that, Alani."

Alani wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand (or hoof ^^), she wanted to spend time with animals of her kind, but on the other hand, she felt uneasy because she had no idea how to behave around others, without her mother. And what did "play tag" mean, anyway?

"Come on, go." Ama gently nudged her daughter. Alani looked up to her, saw her encouraging smile and hesitantly walked over to the others, while Ama stayed where she was. She would keep an eye on the fawns, but she would disturb them.

As soon as the four young ones were out of Ama's hearing, Ronno began to complain, "You guys really wanna play with that girl? She can't even speak!"

Valentino and Caio looked at Ronno in slight outrage. "Ronno, be nice to her. It isn't her fault she can't speak yet. I like her. What do you think, Tino?" Caio looked at his brother, who nodded to support him.

"I do think so, too. At first, I suppose it would be best to explain Alani how to play tag. Okay, Lani?"

Alani decided to be brave. Her mother expected her to have fun and those three were more or less nice to her. "Okay," she agreed determined and listened to Valentino who explained what she had to do. It wasn't that hard to understand and she found out that it was far bigger fun than she had expected. She kept laughing almost the entire time, although she was the one who lost the most times. Either she stumbled or she was simply the slowest due to her being smaller.

But every now and then, she won. For being an almost newborn, she was pretty fast and the longer they played, the quicker she seemed to become. Her three new friends seemed to enjoy their time together just as she did, even Ronno.

The fawns were slightly disappointed when Caio's and Valentino's mother came to pick up her sons. She was surprised to meet Ama and Alani.

"Ama, it's good to see you. Is that your fawn?" She looked at Alani, interested in knowing who her sons' new friend was. She was sure it was Ama's fawn; there were no other does anywhere near them. And since she was friends with Ronno's mother, he couldn't be Ama's son.

"Hello Mitra, good to see you, too. Yes, that's my daughter, Alani. She met your sons and Ronno while she was exploring and they seem to be friends already," she explained to the other doe, who had a light brown fur, too. Mitra smiled at her and Alani.

"She seems to be a nice fawn. I'm sure they're the best of friends."

Ama laughed. "Exactly what I thought. Well, however, I have to bring Alani home now." She smiled down at her daughter who was slowly starting to look sleepy again. She was only one day old, after all.

"And I will take my sons to the meadow. Oh, and Ronno, your mother is looking for you," Mitra responded. She looked at her fawns, and then at Ronno, who reluctantly ran off after saying goodbye. He was only a few weeks old, after all; it wouldn't be wise to upset his mother.

Valentino and Caio went over to the smiling Alani to say goodbye, both grinning widely. "It was very nice to meet you, Lani," Valentino said and nudged her friendlily. But instead of going away then, he suddenly licked her cheek. She looked at him in surprised, but his grin only grew wider.

Caio stayed where he was, but he smiled at her. "I really hope we'll meet again soon." He hoped he would be as courageous as his brother, but he wasn't. So he just gave her a friendly smile before he left and hurried to keep up with his family.

"Come on, Alani, let's go home," Ama said, looking at her daughter. Alani nodded and kept walking right by her mother's side almost the whole way.

When they reached their den, Ama fed Alani and then the two deer lay down to rest some time. Alani happily snuggled into her mother's side again. The walk had been really exhausting, but she had a lot of fun, that was for sure.

* * *

**New characters:**

**_Ketri:_ a grey squirrel, friend of Ama**

**_Ronno:_ We all know this guy, but in this chapter (and in later chapters that play before Bambi 2) he's about one year younger, has no antlers but white spots**

**_Valentino and Caio_: brothers and friends with Ronno. As I already mentioned, all three of them are possible later mates of Alani**

**_Mitra:_ Mother of Valentino and Caio**


	4. Chapter 3: The Great Prince

**As you may have already noticed: this chapter is about my all-time favorite Bambi character: The Great Prince of the forest. I really like him, especially how he finally handle being the ruler of the forest with dignity and all that and being a father at the end of the second movie. And he's so beautiful for being a deer. (Oh, and in the German version of Bambi 2, he is voiced by my favorite German voice actor, for a fact.) In this story, I named him _Rei,_ ****which is Portuguese and means _king_. **

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Great Prince**

Almost one and a half weeks passed in the Great Prince's forest without anything happening. Alani was a quick learner and eleven days after her birth, she was able to speak in full sentences, though there were some words she didn't know. She often walked around while her mother searched for food and met a lot of different animal while doing so. But the ones she played with most of the time were her friends: Valentino, Ronno and Caio.

Tino and Caio were really nice to her, the two almost seem to see her as a kind of little sister and she felt like they were the big brothers she would never have. They laughed with her, played with her and protected her when Ronno made a unfitting remark about her. To cut a long story short: they were the best of friends.

With Ronno she got along very well, too, at least most of the time. But he often made jokes about her because she was so young. And she didn't like that at all.

"Hey guys, wait up!" she squealed cheerfully one day when they were playing tag again. But she had problems with keeping up with them for they were older and bigger than her. But they didn't even think about slowing down.

"Never ever, you girl!" Ronno laughed and quickly jumped aside when Alani had almost reached him. Determined, she narrowed her eyes and tried to run faster.

"Girl? What a creative insult!" she laughed, really amused by this. She kept chasing him, but suddenly she noticed Valentino behind a bush to her right. She only saw him out of the corner of her eye, so he didn't know it. She quickly turned around and surprised him by appearing out of nowhere. He didn't even try to avoid being hit by her. Laughing like crazy they rolled through the soft grass and kept lying on the ground for a few moments. Eventually, Valentino raised his head.

"Lani? You okay?" Alani looked at him with a happy smile on her face and nodded. Lani, that was what he always called her. Ronno and Caio did that, too. She got up and stretched all of her long legs. Yes, she was still in one piece. She looked at Valentino and remembered that she tagged him, and before he got in his hooves, she ran away, giggling.

"You're it!" she shouted over her shoulder while she tried to make her path as difficult as possible. Valentino looked after her in amazement for one moment, but then, the ambitious gleam his friends were used to could be seen again.

"Oh, you will get that back!" he cried half joking, half serious, and chased after her. But she was fast enough and jumped away until she had disappeared between the bushes and trees. However, he could still see Ronno and Caio and was ready to catch them.

Caio quickly noticed his brother running after him. He jumped around and chose a path between bushes and trees, jumped over branches and stones, to make it as difficult as possible to tag him. But hiding was impossible because he kept laughing all the time, which made finding him very easy.

His brother had just tagged him with a triumphant smirk when a soft voice stopped their game. Mitra appeared out of the bushes, a smile on her face.

"Caio, Valentino, here you are!"

"Hello mother", Caio said, still giggling, and ran up to her, who nuzzled him lovingly. Valentino followed his little brother (although he was, in fact, only a few minutes older) slower, grinning excitedly.

"Mother, did you see how I tagged Caio?"

"But only because Tino was lucky!"

Ronno shook his head. He had come closer, too, with Alani beside him. Her giggle brought her the attention of the little family before her.

"No, because you laughed so much, Caio", she said softly and smiled at him. He returned this smile, not being mad at her at all. It was only a game, after all.

"Hello Alani, hello Ronno," Mitra greeted the two fawns. She looked at them in slight worry. "Where are your parents?" It wasn't good for two deer of that age to stroll around on their own. She hadn't been too far away, so she would have heard her sons if they had called for help.

Alani grinned carelessly. "She is over there on the…what did she call it…oh, glade!" Mitra nodded. She knew this place. It was near where they were, so Ama could run here any time. She looked at the green-eyed fawn beside Alani.

Ronno didn't answer. It was obvious that his mother had no idea where he was. But then he became cheeky (it could also be called ruthless) again. "Oh, somewhere. Maybe she's at home. I dunno." He was careless, as if he was talking about the weather. But Mitra didn't seem pleased at all.

"Ronno, a young fawn like you shouldn't be on his own out here. It's dangerous. You better go home, your mother sure is worried about you," she scolded him and looked at him with a stern expression. Ronno nodded unusually serious. His friends gave him a confused glance.  
"Very well, I count on you. Caio, Tino, come, we'll go to the meadow." She looked at her sons, who instantly began to follow her. But the three of them turned around when they heard Alani's questioning voice.

"Mitra? What's meadow?"

Mitra smiled at the fawn. "It's called A meadow, my dear. A meadow is a beautiful place with grass as far as your eye can see. There, the fawns can play and the adults can eat delicious food." Her eyes were gleaming while she talked. Alani beamed at the thought.

"Can I come with you?" That sounded heavenly!

Mitra shook her head, suddenly serious again. "No. I'm sure your mother will take you there anytime soon. However, we have to go now. Goodbye, you two." She gave them a last friendly smile before she continued walking.

"See ya!" Caio and Valentino said at the same time and followed their mother.

"I hope soon," Alani said, while Ronno only mumbled an unintelligible "Bye", sounding really bored. After Mitra, Valentino and Caio had disappeared from their view, Alani turned to Ronno. She was a little sad.

"You'll go now, won't you?"

Ronno looked at her and shook his head. "No. Why should I?"

That confused the doe-fawn. "But you told Mitra you would!" She had already learned that fawns had to obey when adults told them to do something.

Ronno looked at her in a smug way. "That's called lying, Alani. You still have a lot to learn, little one."

Alani blew up her cheeks. She hated it when he called her "little one". She wasn't that much younger than him, after all. But what he had said made her curious, tough.

"Lying? What's that?"

"When you say something what isn't true."

Alani was shocked and speechless for a moment. He couldn't do that! Her mother had told her saying untrue thing was totally wrong. "But fawns mustn't do that! Mother told me so," she exclaimed. Ronno looked at her with a blank face. He didn't care about what adults said. He just wanted to have fun.

"And what are you gonna do now? Tell your mommy about it?"

Alani didn't know how to answer. Fawns didn't like telling such things to adults. Valentino, Caio and Ronno had told her about that. She lowered her head and shook it. "No."

Ronno seemed content and walked away. But when he noticed Alani didn't follow him, he turned his head and looked at her. She seemed a little lost. Impatiently, he moved his head forward. "What's the matter? Did roots grow out of your hooves? Come with me!"

"But mother said-"

"Mother said, mother said! You're really Mama's girl, aren't you?"

"I'm not Mama's girl!" she shouted at him, immediately angered by him. Proudly, she raised her head high in the air and ran up to him. She would show him she was more courageous than he thought! She was able to do something without her mother!

Without realizing the dangers they would probably put themselves in, the fawns started walking away. Alani didn't even notice how triumphantly Ronno was grinning.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Alani asked when she began to feel uncomfortable. Ronno didn't stop grinning.

"No idea. But you don't need to worry. You have a big, strong stag by your side, after all." Annoyed, Alani shook her head. What a braggart! She had never seen a grown-up stag, but she knew Ronno couldn't be considered big. He wasn't half as big as her mother.

Leaving all cares behind, she suddenly started running. "Let's see if the big, strong stag can catch me!" she laughed. Ronno didn't want to be left behind and followed her. Laughing and chasing each other, they ran through the woods. Soon, they didn't think about their mother's warnings anymore. But their giggling gained the attention of another creature.

It was Alani who noticed that something bad was coming closer. A few branches rustled although there was not the slightest breeze. She gazed at a particular bush and noticed a low rumble. Uncertain, she stared at it, then at Ronno.

"Ronno, what's that?" she asked with a shaking voice. Ronno began to get nervous, too. Both fawns felt impending doom. Ronno backed up.

"I don't know. RUN!" He swirled around and ran away as fast as his long legs could carry him. Alani didn't hesitate to follow him. She was running for mere seconds when she suddenly heard a terrible noise. The rumbling, which was actually growling, grew louder, her steps faster. She turned her head to find out what was persuading them. And when she saw it, she panicked and begged her legs to move faster. Behind her, there was a giant animal with dark grey fur and long sharp teeth. And it was fast.

"Ronno, help me!" she cried, but Ronno didn't even think about helping her. Driven by his fear, he raced away and left her alone with the beast. She continued running faster until her legs and lungs ached, but the animal kept coming closer. She cried for help, for her mother, at the top of her lungs.

Ama, who didn't know about the dangerous situation her daughter was in, yet, was grazing peacefully and raised her head when she heard her screaming. It didn't take her long to realize something was going awfully wrong. Her voice had never been that full of panic.

"ALANI!" she screamed startled and started running as fast as she could.

But she wasn't fast enough. The fleeing Alani stumbled while she was running and fell to the ground. Tears of fear ran down her face while she was trying to pick herself up again. The monster would kill her! She squeezed her eyelids together tightly, not wanting to see her end coming.

But the beast didn't get to attack. Another animal had heard her desperate screams and had come to rescue her. A shadow jumped over the fawn, which was still lying on the ground, and one moment later Alani heard the monster yelp. Cautiously, she opened her eyes again and saw a big stag fighting the bad animal which had persuaded her. He defended himself with his antlers and his hooves. When the beast tried to reach her one more time, the stag send him flying a few feet with one swift motion of his antlers. Whining, the grey animal ran away.

Alani picked herself up and stared at the stranger in awe. He was breathing a little hard, most likely because he had ran here very fast, but he had beaten the monster so easily! The stag was tall, much taller than her, had a darker fur than her mother, was muscular and had really long antlers on his head he proudly held in the air.

"Are you all right?" he asked politely, but with a slight tone of worry.

Alani was still slightly scared, so she only nodded hesitantly and looked around as if she expected something to jump out of the bushed again. The stag looked around, too.

"Where is your mother?"

"I-"

But Alani didn't need to finish her sentence. A relieved voice gained her attention. Ama came running to her.

"Alani, thank heavens, you're all right! What happened?" she said and sighed relieved when her fawn snuggled up to her chest. Alani was still crying a little because of the shock and the relief.

Alani looked at the strange stag, someone Ama knew very well. "Rei, what happened?" She was still so agitated that she didn't even take the time to greet him.

Rei looked at her with dignity. "So she's your fawn? You should have told her that fawns of her age should stay close to their mothers. A wolf persuaded her. If I hadn't been near her, she would have gotten killed. He couldn't hide that he was surprised and a little worried.

Ama looked as if she was about to faint. She looked down at her daughter, who felt very guilty. "Is that true? Where are Caio, Valentino and Ronno? Did the wolf…" She didn't dare to finish her sentence. Alani shook her head as fast as she could.

"Valentino and Caio went to the meadow with their mother and Ronno vanished when we were running from that…wolf. He left me all alone!" Ama felt a wave of anger. She promised herself to have a serious talk with Ronno the next time they met. She knew it was a normal deer attitude to run away, not caring for others, but still!

But there was one more thing she needed to ask.

"Why did you go so far away? I told you to stay near the glade."

"Ronno walked away after Caio and Tino left and when I told him I wasn't allowed to go away, he called my Mama's Girl. I followed him to show that I'm just as brave as he is," Alani admitted with a very small voice. Rei, who had silently watched them, decided he needed to say something.

"Being reckless has nothing to do with bravery. I hope you are wiser the next time this Ronno asks you to do something dangerous." He looked at Ama.

"I've got to get going. Take good care of her." With that, he slowly turned around. But Ama wasn't done with asking questions yet.

"Rei, why was that wolf alone? Are more of them around here?" She was really concerned. Of course she would keep a close watch on her daughter for the next couple of days, but maybe other fawns were in serious danger.

Rei turned around. "I don't know if there are more of them around here. Why he was alone…he most likely lost his pack. We both know wolves usually don't hunt all alone. However, I still have duties to take care of. Goodbye." He turned around and walked away with his usual dignity.

Ama couldn't help but call something after him: "Rei…thank you for saving her." He didn't show any sign that her had heard her, but she knew he did. As the protector of the forest, he needed to have a good hearing.

Alani looked at the disappearing stranger, still in awe. "Mother, who is he?"

Ama smiled softly. Her glance seemed to be glued on Rei when she answered: "He's the Great Prince of the Forest. He protects all of the deer living in this place and everyone respects him a great deal for he is the strongest and wisest of all of us."

"Oh." Alani felt even more impressed. It seemed as if she had met something really special. But she was confused by the way her mother and The Great Prince had acted. They seemed to be quite familiar to each other. "Do you know him?"

Ama laughed and nodded, finally looking at Alani. "I should know him. He's my big brother, your uncle."

Now the fawn couldn't get more impressed. She stared at the disappearing figure.

"Are you a prince, too?"

Ama laughed again and started walking in the opposite direction, back to the glade, with her daughter beside her. Curiously, Alani toddled along beside her mother. "No, Alani, a female prince is called a princESS. I'm actually one, but I don't give too much about it. Even if I was firstborn – something I'm not, for a fact -, my brother would still be Great Prince."

"Why?" That was Alani's favorite question. By far.

"He's a buck; I'm a doe, that's why. He's much stronger and has antlers to fight. But I don't feel bad about it. I'm glad I can live a peaceful life with you while he protects the forest." And he did a good job. When they were young, he had always protected her, and now, he was able to handle an entire forest. But she was saddened by the fact that he barely talked with Ria, although she knew he loved her very dearly. But even though Ria never admitted it, she missed her mate.

"I understand." Alani lay down in the soft grass beside her mother's hooves when they reached the glade. Ama began to graze again while Alani dozed a little. There was a lot she had to think about, after all.


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey there! It's me again!**

**To answer one reviewer's question: yes, in this story, Ronno has friends. But you got to remember that it's one year before he meets Bambi and Faline for the first time. A lot can happen until then. **

**And a thing I want to mention: in this chapter, a human touches a fawn with bare skin. You mustn't do that when you find a fawn! For what I know, the does don't recongnize their fawns then because they smell different. The fawn would starve. And you don't want to kill an adorable little fawn, do you?**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The first dream and the birth of the Young Prince**

At night, the forest was very peaceful place, when most of the animals lay sleeping in their dens and only the nocturnal animals were out there to hunt. As well as Ama, Alani was sleeping too, cuddled up to her mother. No animal knew that in the early hours of morning, the Great Prince's mate would give birth to a little male fawn which was destined to follow his father's hoofprints.

It was this quiet spring night in which Alani happened to dream about Man for the first time. In her dream, she was standing inside a big garden, although she didn't know it was one. But she did notice it wasn't her home forest. There was a lack of trees; she could only spot a few small one here and there. The grass wasn't as soft and high as she was used too, either. But what really confused her was the sudden disappearance of her mother.

"Mother?" she cried. She had never been in an unfamiliar place without her mother by her side. The sun was already going down and she felt very lonely without any kind of shelter. But even though Alani called Ama a few times, she never got an answer. Finally she decided to explore her surroundings so she could decide what to do.

However, her path was soon blocked by…something. She couldn't really describe it. Alani could tell it was out of wood, but it wasn't thick and round. Instead of that, it had been cut into long flat stripes someone had put into the ground. She could look through tiny empty spaces between the stripes, but they were too high to jump over them.

She gently pressed her head against it and pushed, but the thing (a fence) didn't move. She walked around to see that the fence was all around this strange area. She was locked in.

In a sudden outburst of energy and despair, she lowered her head, started to run and jumped against the fence with all strength she could muster up. But it didn't help; she fell back and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

The strange thing was that it didn't hurt. She was a little dazed and stumbled around for a few moments, but there was no throbbing headache she would normally feel. She shook her head to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling and continued to walk around soon after.

That was when she spotted something very high and very broad in the dim light. It was very dark, so she didn't see it earlier, and seemed to be out of massive stones. However, there were two holes that let out the light that was inside the building, which was actually a house. Alani decided to walk over to examine the strange thing.

Before the dark walls was a place where the ground was out of stone. She lowered her head to get a closer look. Then she looked at the shelter above her which kept her from looking at the sky. The roof was supported by posts in its corners.

But soon, she headed to her real target: the hole in the wall. She wanted to stretch her head through it, but to her big surprise, it didn't work! There was something smooth, cool and solid between her and the inside of the building. She pressed her head against the invisible wall, but it didn't give in.

However, her attention was quickly caught by what was behind the window. With fascinated, yet confused and a tiny little bit scared eyes she looked at all the unknown things. There was a flat box which had a flickering screen on which she could see tiny animals with long manes and sharp teeth. Before the box was a board which was supported by four small leafless logs. She could also see strange blue stones which gave in whenever weight was put on them.

But the probably most interesting thing was some ugly, almost hairless animals. She had to admit that these were the strangest creatures she had ever seen. They walked only on their hind legs and had put on colorful things. That was a confusing strategy to hide. They were plain to see for anyone if they walked around outside. And the only fur they had was long hair on their head!

Alani watched these really strange, but yet fascinating animals walking around in what seemed to be their den. There were three of them and they were talking to one another and watching what happened on the screen of the strange box. Alani looked at it and saw that the unfamiliar animals were seemingly fighting until the dark one fell off a cliff. On the ground were other animals were. Those were grey and had black spots all over their body, even more than Alani's fawn friends.

Alani looked away when the grey ones attacked the dark brown animal. She felt that her eyes burned and looked away. She remembered she should find a way out, anyway.

She returned only a few minutes later, disappointment, fear and despair clear on her face. She was all alone and locked in. Her mother was nowhere to be seen. She looked through the window, pondering if the strange animals could possibly help her.

In this very moment, one of them happened to turn her head to the window and looked straight into the fawn's eyes. Alani froze when their gazes met. She felt something weird. It was the first time she saw those creatures, but still the girl seemed familiar to her. She had long dark caramel colored hair and dark brown eyes, just like Alani.

She turned to her two companions and talked to them. They looked at Alani, then they said something and soon after they went somewhere where Alani couldn't see them anymore. The young fawn was kind of sad. She would have liked to watch the odd animals some more.

She grew more and more desperate and frightened. She had no idea where she was, her mother was nowhere to be found and she couldn't get out of her. Alani could feel tears rise. With her head lowered and her ears hanging down, she walked around to see if there was a way out she hadn't seen yet.

But when she suddenly heard a creaky noise, she turned her head again. She gasped when she saw the strange animals open another hole in the wall. They actually came out of it! Alani quickly hid behind a bush and watched the three of them through gaps between the branches. One of them was the girl which had spotted her first. The second one had short light brown hair, while the other girl had shoulder length black hair. They walked in her direction. Alani ducked in fear.

"Come out, little fawn. We don't want to hurt you," the caramel haired girl called her with a quiet, soothing voice. Alani could swear that she had heard that voice before, although she knew she hadn't. It was truly weird.

But encouraged by the fact that she felt bond to the girl, she stepped out of her hiding spot and slowly approached the girl who kindly smiled at her. Alani simply knew the teenagers meant her no harm and stopped a short distance before them, eying them with unhidden curiosity.

The first girl carefully reached out her hand and touched the fawn. Alani winced, but then the girl suddenly began to stroke the fluffy dark brown fur on top of her head. Alani really liked it and moved a little closer, losing her fear.

"That's a really friendly fawn," the short haired animal remarked and looked at the one stroking Alani. "How easily you got it to come closer, Alicia."

The girl named Alicia nodded and smiled at him. "You're right, Dan."  
However, the other girl still seemed to be confused. She looked around, but couldn't see anything unusual. "But where does it come from? There is no way a fawn could get in here? And where is its mother? It doesn't seem to be very old," she said. Her siblings nodded in unison. It was strange, really.

"I still think the fawn's cute," Alicia responded and straightened herself up. Alani started to put a liking on that girl and kindly rubbed her head on the girl's lower leg. The tree teenagers laughed at this.

Then all of sudden, Alicia's cell phone rang. Alani was startled by the noise and ran away to hide, not knowing what it was. She watched how Alicia took a small thing out of her pocket. She looked at the display and handed it over to her sister.

"Cassy, can you take care of this? It's mom. I will sooth our little friend here," she asked her sister and slowly approached Alani. The fawn began to feel uncomfortable without really knowing why. There was something wrong, although she couldn't tell what. The sun began disappearing and only its last rays enlightened the garden.

When all light had faded, she was left alone in the darkness. She couldn't hear the talking of those strange animals anymore, but Alicia continued walking towards her. She could see her eyes glowing in the dark, even though they hadn't two minutes earlier.

It was an instinct which told Alani she had to get away. First she backed up, but then she ran away until she was stopped by the fence. Hardly breathing, the fawn turned around, only to realize that the friendly girl had turned into a deadly monster which walked with on four legs, had thick grey fur and sharp, bloodstained teeth. The wolf was back again.

Alani ran around and screamed for help, but this time, no one was there to save her. She couldn't see her enemy in the dark, yet she could feel its presence lurking in the shadows, ready to attack. Eventually, the wolf had cornered its prey and jumped at her. Alani could only let out a high-pitched scream.

And then suddenly, it was over. Someone nudged her gently and whispered soothing words. It took her a moment to realize that someone was her mother who asked her to open her eyes. She did so, raised her head and looked around, still slightly panicking.

However, she began to calm down when she realized she was at home again, with the quietness of the forest around and her mother beside her. Ama looked at her daughter in worry.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"A nightmare?" Alani was still confused, but glad to feel the warm body of her mother right next to her.

Ama smiled softly. "A very bad dream. Did something bad happen in your dream?" She nuzzled her daughter, who nodded and told her mother about the wolf.

"But mother, there were three other animals of a kind I don't know," Alani added excited and try to put her thoughts in order so she could tell Ama about it. She described the strange animals as good as she told and tried to include every detail, like the fact that they walked on their hind legs or their lack of fur.

"The only fur they had was on their head and it was very long and had different colors! And you should have seen their den, it was really odd-" she babbled, but stopped herself when she saw the horrified facial expression of her mother. Ama's eyes were so wide that the white in it shone in the dim moonlight. Insecure, she lowered her voice and asked quietly: "Mother…is everything…alright?" She almost didn't dare to raise the question.

Ama shook her head and closed her eyes. She remembered a talk with her brother when he had just taken his rightful place as the great Prince. Around time, he had had an encounter with their deadly enemy. What he had told her and the descriptions of her daughter matched perfectly. Ama opened her eyes again and took a deep breath. With a serious voice she said, "Man."

"Man? What's Man?"

Alani's curiosity was destroyed by the deathly serious, slightly scared gaze of her mother. She had never seen her mother that scared. Even the attack three days ago hadn't frightened her like that. The fawn figured out that man had to be really bad then.

"The creature you have seen, that's him. Man is horrible. All he can do is causing death and pain. You mustn't approach them ever again. Do you understand?" Her voice was unusually strict and loud, but still full of worry. Of course, it was only a dream. But what if this dream led Alani to the conclusion that man was a kind, good-hearted creature?

And she shouldn't be wrong. That was exactly the impression Alani had gotten. She remembered perfectly well how softly the girl had stroked her fur, just as loving as the way Ama used to nuzzle her. "But in my dream, Man was very friendly!" She didn't want to believe someone was evil without any reason. The memory of the wolf appeared before her inner eye and made her shiver, but she tried to hold it back.

Alani calmed down a bit. Still a little strict she said: "That was it. A dream. In reality, Man is different. He's a cold, heartless creature which won't hesitate to kill any of us. Please promise me to stay away from them and to hide as soon as you spot them. "Her plea was quiet, but urgent.

Alani thought that the last time she had done something against her mother's will, she had almost gotten herself killed. Probably Ama was right and Man was evil. It would be best if she did what she was told, so she nodded. "I promise."

Ama smiled slightly and tenderly licked her daughters head. "Good. And now, let's get some sleep until dawn comes." She laid her head on the ground and closed her eyes. Alani did so as well and a few minutes later, she was fast asleep again.

* * *

The very next morning, she wasn't peaceful anymore and not okay at all with her mother's plans for the day. She looked at the light brown doe, torn between childish anger and pleading.

"Mother, why do I have to stay here the entire day? Can't I come along?" Her mother had already left her alone in the den every day since the attack. She knew she deserved it and her mother had told her that most does did that until the fawn was a month old, but she didn't like it. At least her three fawn friends had visited her the day before.

Ama shook her head in determination. "No, you're staying here while I'll go to the meadow to graze. Don't worry, I'll be back in a few hours," she promised her daughter and smiled kindly.

However, Alani didn't smile. "But I wanna go there with you!" That was so unfair! Tino and Caio were allowed to go there, after all! Why not her?

"You're too small. I don't want you to get hurt. But I promise I'll take you there soon when you're old enough. And if you stop complaining about staying here while I'm gone," Ama explained patiently and looked into the fawn's face.

Alani responded with a defeated smile. There was no point in trying to convince her mother.

"Okay," she gave in with her ears hanging down. Ama tenderly nuzzled her to cheer her up. "Don't worry; I will be back in no time. Goodbye, my dear." She smiled one last time and left the den. Alani looked after Ama until she couldn't see her anymore. Sighing, she went back inside the den and laid down.

Ama had already nursed her after they woke up, so she at least wasn't hungry. But she didn't feel as satisfied as she normally did white her stomach full of milk. Alani decided to sleep some more, in hope time would pass faster that way.

But the end of her boredom came faster than she expected. Suddenly, she heard something that sounded as if all birds in the forest were singing, and it even became louder. Startled, she jumped to her feet and ran out to see what was going on.

Soon, a group of rabbits hopped her way. One of them, the only male one as it was, stopped and looked at Alani. "Didn't ya hear the news? The new prince is born! Come along!" Then, he followed his mother and sisters again.

"But…I" Alani looked back at her den and then at the rabbits who were heading for another one. She knew her mother trusted her, but her curiosity about the new prince was too strong.

She followed the other woodland creatures into a den not far away from her own, where already a lot of different animals were. When she looked at the crowd she noticed she was the only deer around, except for the two who were in the center of attention. The other visitors were quails, different kinds of other birds, rabbits, raccoons and even an owl who landed on a branch.

Alani turned her attention to the reason why they all were here: a light brown doe, Ria, and her newborn son. The doe-fawn supposed that this was the new prince. The male fawn had orangish-brown fur, while the top of his head was a lot darker. The darker color went down his back as a stripe. In addition to that his sides were full of tanned spots, just like her friend's. The fawn was fast asleep and cuddled up to his mother, who looked around with a soft smile. When she spotted Alani, who stood behind the rabbits, her smile grew a little wider.

Alani heard how the other animals mumbled about how cute the newborn prince was, and she had to agree. However, her attention was drawn to friend owl when he raised his voice.

"Well, this is quite and occasion! Yes, sure, it isn't everyday a prince is born. You're to be congratulated," he said and smiled at the doe. Immediately, every other animal started congratulating the proud mother.

"Congratulation," Alani said hesitantly after looking around a few times. She had no idea what this meant, but since all of the animals said it, it had to be right, she guessed.

Ria smiled in return. "Thank you very much." She turned her head to her sleeping son and gently nudged him. "Come on, wake up. We have company." When she raised her head again, the fawn opened his orange eyes. Alani watched in fascination how the young prince raised his head in surprise and looked at all the strange animals.

Everyone started greeting him, either just a simple hello or in combination with his title. Alani's ears flicked while she thought about what to say. She wasn't much older than the newborn and felt a little stupid since everybody else seemed to know who this was, even the little rabbits and the quail chicks. Eventually, she simply said "Hello."

After it was silent again, Friend Owl began speaking. Or better, he uttered just one thing: "Huhu." Alani and the Young Prince both turned their head in his direction and eyed the night bird. Both of them saw him for the first time.

Grinning, Friend Owl repeated what he had said and laughed a little. When he said "Huhu" for the third time, he leaned forward and looked at the male fawn with his big, orange-yellow eyes.

Scared, Bambi winced and seemed to seek shelter by his mother's side. Alani was frightened by the strange bird as well. But Friend Owl laughed kindly and blinked a few times. This made the young prince laugh, as well as Alani and the other animals.

"Look, he's trying to get up!" the little rabbit Alani had met earlier said all of sudden. He pointed towards the newborn.

The little one really tried to get on his legs. He put his hind hooves on the ground and slowly lifted his behind in the air, pushing alternately with each leg. While all animals stood there watching, the little cheeky rabbit hopped right before the young prince's black nose who now got on his front legs, too. The rabbit hopped away when the fawn stumbled a few steps.

Although it seemed as if the newborn was almost falling down again, he managed to regain his balance and curiously looked at the little rabbit, which now hopped around him until it sat behind the fawn. With his head lowered between his front legs the young prince looked at the grey-furred animal.

The rabbit continued looking at the fawn. Now he hopped below him and looked at the fawn's light brown belly. From then, he moved on to the fawns head, which the little deer raised a little. They gazed at each other while their noses almost touched, the rabbit's pink and the fawn's black.

From there, the rabbit hopped around the prince's front legs under his belly. The deer was so eager to see where the rabbit went that he stumbled a few steps sideways. To avoid being hit by the little brown hooves, the rabbit quickly fled and stayed to his family. He turned to the other woodland creatures.

"Kind of wobbly, isn't he?" he asked. His mother didn't seem to be amused by her son's comment.

"Thumper!" the blue-eyed rabbit scolded her son.

The rabbit named Thumper seemed to shrink a little when he heard her voice. "Well yes." But then, he turned to the curious fawn and looked at it with big brown eyes. "Aren't ya?" he asked him, most likely without expecting an answer.

But Bambi kind of did give him one. The small dear uttered an unintelligible sound and threw his head forwards. Brought out of balance by the strong movement, he and Thumper both stumbled backwards. Thumper landed near his mother and sisters, Bambi fell down beside his mother. Sitting there, he looked around with confused eyes, causing the other animals to laugh. "How did that happen?" was written clearly on his face.

The newborn seemed to have enough. He folded his long legs beneath him and lay down right next to the warm body of his mother. His eyes were half-closed, indicating his tiredness. Friend Owl noticed this as well.

"Looks too me that he's getting kind of sleepy," he said. As if he wanted to agree, the male fawn yawned that very moment, widely opening his little muzzle. While Ria gave her son a loving glance, Friend Owl continued: "I think it's time that we all left."

Most animals did as he had said and left the den, walking past Alani, who was still busy with staring at the other deer. The ones who didn't leave on their own were shooed by Friend Owl.

Before the night bird flew away as well, he looked at Alani. He wanted to say something to make her leave as well, but then he remembered this was the fawn he had seen with the Great Prince's sister. As the Young Prince's cousin, she had the permission to stay as long as Ria didn't send her away. He smiled silently and left.

Aside Alani, the rabbits were the last ones to leave. But one of them, Thumper of course, hopped back to the newborn and examined the fawn's widely opened muzzle when he yawned once more. Thumper's mother noticed where her son went and quietly called him, not wanting to disturb the fawn.

"Thumper, come along."

Thumper did so, but after hopping over the root right in front of Alani, he stopped and turned around again. "Whatcha gonna call 'im?" he asked.

Alani had already started leaving, but when she heard Thumper's question, she returned, interested in the answer as well.

Ria smiled softly and looked at her sleeping fawn. "Well, I think I'll call him…Bambi," she said, looking up at Thumper and Alani again.

Thumper tilted his head. "Bambi…yep, I guess that will do alright," he said and left, followed by Alani, who smiled at Ria as an answer to the name. She really liked it.

But while she was going back to her own den, something crossed Alani's mind. The Great Prince was her uncle…was it possible that this Young Prince had something to do with him. She hesitated if she was really allowed to go back, but she really wanted to know this, so she did.

She carefully entered the den and saw how Ria looked at her son with a blissful smile. When the doe-fawn approached her, she looked up. Alani stopped after she had stepped over the root.

"Hello Alani," she greeted her niece with a calm voice. "Knowing the curiosity of your mother, I should have expected you to return." She chuckled silently. Alani, however, was confused.

"You know mother?" How it did come she never met this doe then? The only adults she'd met were The Great Prince and Mitra, and her mother of course.

Ria nodded. "Yes, your mother and I are very good friends. I visited her right after you were born." She remembered the tiny fawn she had seen two weeks ago and noticed Alani had grown since then. The fur on her head was fluffier, too.

"Really?" Alani asked excited. It was so interesting to meet one of her mother's friends. She wanted to ask a lot of things, but then she remembered why she had returned. Her facial expression became questioning.

"Are my Uncle Rei and Bambi related?" she wanted to know.

Ria nodded. "That's right, Bambi is his son. I'm your Uncle's mate. You can call me Aunt Ria. And Bambi is your cousin." She smiled at her niece. Alani beamed. More relatives! But something didn't seem right.

"If they're related, why isn't Uncle Rei here then?"

Ria sighed quietly and looked up at the bits of sky she could see through the branches of the thicket they were in. She knew her mate was there, although she could hardly see him. She turned her head to Alani.

"He's somewhere close."

"Oh." Alani smiled in confusion. She stood there for a few moments and looked at the doe and her baby fawn, then she decided she should return home. "I better go now," she said and smiled at Ria, who simply nodded.

"Goodbye," the doe said kindly and looked after her until she continued paying attention to her son. Outside the den, Alani seemed thoughtfully and looked at the sky like her aunt. And to her surprise, she spotted a proud figure with a large pair of antlers up high on a rock. She smiled silently, knowing who this had to be.

* * *

A few hours later, when the sun was already setting down, Ama returned from the meadow. She smiled when she saw her daughter lying in their den, daydreaming about something. Tenderly, she and Alani cuddled and Ama nursed her before they both lay down again.

"Was it really that bad to stay here?" She looked at Alani with a warm, motherly smile, which made the fawn feel uncomfortable. Since she arrived home, she had started feeling guilty about going out on her own. She was allowed to stay outside when she was close to a grown-up, which hadn't been the case all the time. On the other hand, it had been a special occasion.

Torn between telling her mother about what happened and keeping it to herself, she stared at nothing in particular. Her mother would surely be very angry and never allow her to come with her again. It was a horrible thought.

Ama waited for a moment, but realized her daughter wouldn't answer and thought she was still sulkily. So the doe decided to change the subject. When she thought of something to talk about, a wide smile spread over her face. The happiest news of the day had reached her while she was on her way to the meadow and she was sure Alani wanted to hear about it, too.

"Did you already hear about what happened today? The Young Prince is born! You know, he's your cousin," she told her and expected Alani to be excited. She loved it to see the eyes of her fawn gleam with joy. But they didn't. Instead, Alani's body stiffened.

The doe-fawn lowered her head and pressed her eyelids tightly together. This couldn't be true! Ama lowered her head as well to be able to look at Alani's face.

"Are you still mad at me, Sweetheart? I only left you behind to protect you. You not that, don't you?" Her voice was quiet and soft. It was simply too much for Alani. She began to cry a little. Ama was startled when she saw tears running down Alani's face.

"Alani, what's wrong? Did anything happen?" She carefully licked her tears away. Alani couldn't keep her secret anymore and instantly started telling everything.

"I went away to visit Aunt Ria because all of the other animals did so! I'm so sorry for disobeying you but I just was so curious!" she said in an incredibly fast pace. But strangely enough, she felt better after letting her mother know what had happened. It was a feeling as if her heart had been freed from a heavy weight.

Ama just stared at her for a couple of moment, followed by a sigh. She was relieved because nothing bad happened, but also disappointed because Alani had disobeyed her again. She wanted to talk some sense into her daughter, but it wasn't the right moment. Alani still looked as if she could start crying anytime. Slowly, Ama nuzzled her daughter, who looked up in confusion.

"I understand you were curious. When I was a fawn, I was just like you," she said calmly. At this, Alani started grinning a little.

"I now. Aunt Ria told me."

Ama smiled a tiny little bit. Ria was such a good soul. Surely she must have been very exhausted, but still she had taken the time to talk to Alani. "Very well."

But then, she got serious again and even a little strict. "Alani, I want you to listen to me. That might have been a special occasion, but never go away on your own again as long as I don't tell you otherwise. You are putting your life in danger. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. Do you understand what I mean?"

Alani nodded as fast as she could. She was so glad that her mother understood her. Relieved and calm, she leaned her head against her mother's side and closed her eyes. But after a few peaceful moments, she looked up again.

"Mother, are you very angry?"

Ama shook her head and smiled. "No, not angry, just worried. I love you very much."

Alani tilted her head. "What does love mean?"

For a minute or two, Ama searched for the right words to describe the term "Love" so Alani would be able to understand its meaning. Then she answered slowly, carefully choosing her words, "To love someone means that you like him or her very very much, even more than yourself."

Alani looked at her with big eyes. But then she closed them, snuggled up to her mother and said quietly: "Mother, I love you very much."Ama smiled when a warm feeling of deep motherly love filled her heart. She laid her head down close to her daughter and closed her eyes as well.

"I love you, too."

She was almost asleep when she thought of something. Silently smiling she asked, "By the way, what is your cousin's name?"

"Bambi. His name's Bambi."


	6. Chapter 6: The meadow

**Chapter 5: The meadow**

Several days passed. Ama continued leaving her daughter alone for hours, hidden deep in the safety of the thicket. When she was in their den, it was very hard to spot her, so their enemies couldn't harm Alani, who grew more patient each day. While she was waiting for her mother to return, she tried to learn recognizing the sound and smells the forest breathed out. Ama did that with ease, ensuring their survival.

But when she was walking around with her mother later, she sometimes played with her friends or explored the forest. But her absolutely favorite thing was asking her mother questions about what she had seen or heard. About the animals and plants, and from time to time, about Man. But while Ama usually gave patient and knowing answers, she was reluctantly told Alani about the most dangerous thing any animal knew. Man was deadly, anyone had to flee when man was around, she used to say then. Nothing else. Scarcely anybody had ever seen Man and lived long enough to tell about it. Mostly, deer only got to see their pets. But Ama didn't speak about them as well. She didn't want to scare Alani with horrible things.

Alani soon learned asking about Man hardly helped to find out something about this creature. Her mother didn't like talking about him at all. Then her body tensed and she lowered her voice, as if she was talking about something forbidden. But in her eyes, she could see fear. And it was the same with the other woodland creatures, like the funny squirrel Ketri and the birds. Friend Owl, who she often met when they were walking around after sunset, didn't fear man, but wasn't willing to talk about him either. He refused telling a child about all the things he had witnessed in his long life.

Thus, Alani's impression that Man was some evil creature which had to be avoided at any price only got stronger and stronger. The thing that annoyed her was that no one gave her a clear explanation why. Everyone just said she would learn some day when she was older. The doe-fawn despised this answer, but she was obedient.

Two days after Bambi's birth, something else happened that left Alani stunned and frightened. She experienced her first storm. The evening hadn't completely spread over the forest when the sky began to turn noticeably darker. When the first thunder sounded in the distance, Ama raised her head and her fine ears twitched. She gently nudged Alani to make her go home so they could seek shelter in their den.

Alani didn't fully understand why her mother suddenly was in such a hurry, but she thought it was for the better. Of course she heard the thunder and it filled her with a thrilling excitement, but she had no idea what it was which caused the loud noises. Ama didn't bother to explain, the fawn would notice it soon enough.

Just minutes after mother and daughter had laid down to rest, it slowly began to rain. Tiny drops of water fell on the green leaves around the den and made them shake with their weight. Soon, little trickles of water flooded down the uneven parts of the forest ground. Ama ignored the dripping, which turned louder the more time passed. But for Alani, it was new to watch water falling from the sky. But after a few minutes of watching the rain, she got tired of it as well.

She snuggled up to her mother and enjoyed the feeling of the warm body right next to her, listening to the calm, slow breath that made Ama's side rise and fall. It filled her with peace and a pleasant kind of tiredness. But her eyes were still open, eying the movements of the leaves.

In this very moment, a lightning flashed over the endless grey sky as a ramified white stripe. But close to the ground where the deer and other woodland creatures were, they could only see how their surroundings suddenly enlightened for a moment and then went dark again.

Alani's head shot up in shock and surprise. Her ears perked up and her eyes widened in fear. Her surprised scream was drowned in the loud noise of the following thunder and the howling of the wind. She looked at her mother, expecting her to be in fear, too. But Ama slowly raised her head to calm her daughter down. A storm wasn't special to her; she had experienced many in her life.

"Mother, what's that?" Alani asked, slightly panicking. She didn't understand how Ama could stay so calm with all this roaring and howling around them. Little did she know it would end in a while. How could she?

Ama wasn't completely calm, inwardly she felt a little nervous, but not as much as her daughter. But she knew that would go away with the end of the storm. With a soft, soothing voice she said; "A storm. Don't worry, it will end soon."

Alani didn't ask any more questions. She couldn't, the noise around them was too loud to talk. Slightly shaking, she pressed her little body against her mother's to seek comfort. Ama didn't say anything, but licked her daughter's head from time to time.

The fawn couldn't tell if she was shaking because she was afraid and nervous or because she was cold, for her fur was saddened by the rain falling from the leaves above her. She stayed alerted until the storm ended anyway. Every lightning and every thunder made her wince and her heart pounded much faster than usual.

But as her mother had predicted, after a while, the storm ended and left behind a relieved Alani. It sure would take a while until the leaves, the ground and the fur coats of the animals where dry again, but the whole forest seen to let out a breath it had been holding for a while.

Alani stayed awake for a few moments after all the howling ended, waiting for it to start again. But it didn't. She looked at her mother, who had already gone back to sleeping. So did the fawn, suddenly feeling tired again. With every following storm, she became calmer until she couldn't care less, like her mother.

* * *

The day after the storm, Ama decided to fulfill Alani's wish and take her to the meadow. When dawn was approaching, the two deer made their way through the awaking forest. It was the best and safest time to travel, especially when a doe had a fawn to protect.

Alani hopped around in excitement and happiness, but sometimes, she walked right behind or next to her mother like a little shadow. She didn't know where they were going, but every day brought something new and interesting. Ama kept an eye on her daughter and laughed about her joyful behavior.

But the closer they came to the meadow, the more alerted she became. Alani noticed that her mother stretched her neck forwards every now and then and that her ears were perked up. The fawn guessed something special was up, but she didn't dare to ask since her mother was so tensed.

She was surprised when her mother suddenly stopped walking and held her head high in the air. Sniffing and listening she stood there. Alani quickly walked to her side without being called.

"Mother, what's going on?" she asked. Her mother lowered her head and smiled gently.

"We're going to the meadow now." Alani smiled widely at this. Her childish face was happier than ever before. But she was serious again when her mother uttered warning words.

"Listen to me carefully, Alani. It's important you will remember these things later. The meadow is different than anything you have seen before. Out there, you are free to run around as much as you want, you will like it. But that means there is no place to hide when there is danger. So you're doing exactly what I tell you. Do you understand?"

All Alani could do was nodding. There was a serious tone in her mother's words that made her believe there was real danger out there and left her speechless. Ama looked at her in silence for a moment before she continued talking.

"Deer only enter the meadow very slow and carefully. I go first, and if there's no danger, I will call you. But if I run back to the thicket or…fall down, run back to our den. Run as fast as you can and don't care about me. You understand that, do you?"

Again, Alani nodded and backed up a little so she stood in the shadows, hardly to be seen. She had no idea why her mother should fall down, as elegant and secure as she walked, but she was too afraid to disobey. Ama looked at her for one more moment, but then she turned her attention back to the meadow. She stood there stiff as a statue and raised her head in the air. She checked the meadow for any sign of danger with all her senses and walked out some careful steps when she didn't sense a threat.

Alani's glance was concentrated on her mother; she watched every move Ama did. Every time Ama stopped and stood still with her head up high, Alani seemed to shrink and ducked a little more. But when Ama continued walking, Alani stretched out her head again. This went on for a few minutes until Ama turned to Alani and quietly called her name.

The fawn felt like there was nothing to hold her back anymore. Laughing she jumped towards her mother and looked around with big, curious eyes. All her fear and anticipation was gone when she stood there in the bright sunlight and felt an indescribable joy in her heart. She laughed and giggled and jumped in the air with all four legs at once while she breathed in the new scents. She smelled fresh grass which was so high that it reached her tanned belly, various flowers and other things she didn't even know. And all the open space around her! She had never felt that free in her entire short life.

She looked up and laughed joyfully when she saw the blue sky high above her for the first time. She had never seen so much sky at the same time, only blue spots in the canopy. Her legs itched, she wanted to run and race until she couldn't anymore. She looked at Ama, who seemingly enjoyed the happiness of her daughter.

"Come on, run away if you want," she laughed and moved her head towards the open space stretching out before them. Alani nodded briefly before a jolt ran through her body and she started racing through the grass. She enjoyed the feeling of her fast pace and the certainty that she could run as long as she wanted to. The meadow was surrounded by trees, but it would be a long time until she reached the other edge.

The meadow was cut in two by a creek Alani now carelessly jumped into to reach the other side. She laughed when the water splashed to both sides. She ran and ran until she couldn't anymore. Breathing hard, but still laughing, she turned around to search her mother.

Ama had followed her the whole time and now stood before the creek and drank the cool water. She looked up when Alani ran up to her and came to an halt right by her side. Alani drank as well, but she preferred milk. After that, she stayed by her mother for a few minutes, but then she ran away again. Ama looked at her for a few moments, but then she to graze. She would notice if there was any danger around, so she didn't worry.

After running around for some time, Alani started watching all the other animals that frolicked on the meadow. She spotted butterflies which flew around in slow, graceful dances. There were so many of them that she could hardly concentrate on only one. She even met the little rabbit Thumper with his mother and sister. Or better, she only saw their grey ears moving through the grass. It looked funny and she laughed at the sight.

Suddenly, another movement caught her attention. Not far away, she could spot two stags who were playfighting. They were strong and full grown, each one with a pair of antlers crowning their heads. But although they were impressive, Alani could tell there were not as big as The Great Prince.

But she still felt excited and enthusiastic watching them lowering their heads and attacked each other. Fascinated, she walked closer, but stayed far away enough so she didn't bother them. The antlers of the two fighters were locked, but soon, both of them backed up and attacked each other again. It looked dangerous, but Alani liked watching them.

But soon, the two fighters had enough. They looked at each other for a moment and then, they simply walked away in different directions. One of them walked past Alani, but didn't care looking at her. She looked at him without fear, but with a great deal of respect.

It didn't seem as if he had even noticed she was there, even though she had been right next to him! She didn't see the sense of it, so she decided to ask her mother. But when she got back to the creek, Ama wasn't there anymore.

But Alani soon found her grazing near the creek with two other does. One of them was Mitra, but Alani had no idea who the other was. She noticed that the strange doe looked a great deal like Ria.

Alani approached the does with the innocent joy of a fawn, but was still respectful towards her mother's friends. The three of them looked up when they noticed Alani running towards them. Ama smiled at her daughter when she stopped right beside her.

"Alani, this is Ena, a good friend of mine," she told her and moved her head in the darker does direction. "Ena, this is my daughter Alani."

The doe named Ena smiled kindly and greeted the fawn. "Hello Alani."

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," Alani responded politely without fear and smiled in return. Ena chuckled a little.

"Well, she isn't bashful at all."

Mitra, who had been invited to join them by Ama because their fawns were friends, nodded approvingly.

"No, she isn't," Ama said kind of proud. But before anyone could say more, a fawn's voice gained their attention. They spotted a bright-furred doe-fawn approaching them until she reached Ena and came to a halt beside her. She smiled at Alani before she looked at Ena.

"Who is this, Mama?"

"Alani, Ama's daughter."

Ena's daughter giggled and jumped towards Alani, who had taken a few steps in her direction as well. The dark-furred fawn thought the other fawn was a little overexcited, but she didn't bother that much. Most likely she was just as happy to be on the meadow as she was.

On the outside, the fawns were as different as night and day. While Ena's fawn's fur was very light brown, Alani's was darker than most fawn's. The one had clear blue eyes, the other dark brown. But both of them didn't care at all.

"Hello Alani, I'm Faline," the blue-eyed fawn introduced herself and giggled again. Alani smiled at her, happy to know another doe-fawn. For some moments, they looked at each other in silence, but then Faline suddenly laughed and ran away and turned her head to Alani.

"Catch me!"

Alani laughed and giggled as well and ran after her. Tag, that was a game all fawns seemed to like. For a seemingly endless time they chased each other in wide circles, and when they stopped to catch their breaths, they were friends. Talking, they walked across the meadow.

"Mama said a few days ago, the young prince was born," Faline said, proud to know something of such importance. But Alani could even top that news.

With a huge grin she said; "I know. I have even seen him once."

With impressed eyes Faline looked at her new friends. She giggled a little. "Really? What does he look like? What's his name?"

"Bambi." She described what she remembered from seeing her younger cousin. Faline seemed to be happy with it. Now Alani started asking questions. She asked Faline if she knew about the dangers of the meadow. Of course Faline did, but she had no idea what exactly made this place so dangerous.

"Mother said when she runs away, I have to do, too. But she didn't say why," Alani remembered. She knew everything her mother had taught her. After all, she wanted to make her mother proud and happy.

"That's what Mama told me, too," Faline said. But she didn't like talking or thinking about such things. She rather wanted to play.

The girls even met two more fawns they could play with. Caio and Valentino approached them so fast that the flowers petals flew around them.

"Alani, you're here," they cheered. The doe-fawns laughed and the four of them jumped around for a moment. Alani introduced her friends to each other and soon after, they started playing again. After some time, their mother's called them. They had to go home again.

This were Alani's first experiences on the meadow.


	7. Bambi, Gallop of the stags & Man

**Chapter 6: Meeting Bambi, Gallop of the stags and Man**

Day after day, night after night went by. Alani led a happy life during these spring days. She played while Ama was talking or grazing with the mothers of her friends, and when they weren't walking around, the fawn slept or listened to the stories her mother told her. The grown-up doe could tell many interesting things, about her youth or about the many animals which lived in the woods along with them.

But Alani didn't spend all of her time with playing. She often trained her skills to hear and smell better, sometimes on her own, but mostly with her mother's help. The fawn learned to recognize animals by their voices and the sound of their steps. She could even smell when another animal was close and knew after some moments if it was another deer. She still had a lot to learn, but she could be on her own much better than a few weeks ago. Ama was proud what a good learner Alani was, even though the fawn sometimes ran away when she was bored or when one of her friends was anywhere close.

When she was on the meadow, she often played with Caio, Valentino und Faline. She hardly met all three of them together, but at least more often than Ronno. He and his mother didn't visit their part of the meadow very often because their den was farther away from this meadow than the ones Alani and her friends lived in. However, Alani was happy every time he was around.

Sometimes, her male friends made little play-fights like the grown-up bucks. She sometimes joined them, but she preferred watching them and giving the winner a proud smile.

But one morning, something new, exciting happened. Like usually she went to the meadow with her mother and played with her for a few minutes. Although Ama mostly spend her time grazing or watching her daughter play, she couldn't help but feel the urge to run around and feel the wind on her face sometimes. But when they walked towards two of Ama's friends, Alani noticed something unusual.

One of them was Ena, something what made Alani happy because Faline was certainly around as well. But the other one hadn't been on the meadow for a while: Ria. The sisters raised their head when they heard Ama calling their names.

Alani raced forwards and came to a halt right before the two does, beaming with joy. "Are Faline and Bambi here, too?" she asked boldly and laughed when she received a nod as answer. She turned around to search her friends.

But she hadn't gotten far away from the mothers when she was almost hit by a fleeing fawn. Suddenly, Bambi appeared before her. He had grown since she saw him for the last time, but Alani was sure it was him. She stopped and smiled at him, but he seemed to be shocked when he noticed her. He stared at her with a weird expression for a moment, but then he looked at something behind him and continued running away, past Alani. The dark fawn looked at him in confusion until she heard Faline greeting her without stopping to run after Bambi.

She followed her and while Bambi hid behind his mother's front legs, the doe-fawns stood side-by side in front of Ena. Alani and Faline looked at the young prince with friendly, playful expressions and giggled a little when they exchanged a glance. Both of them loved making new friends, although it seemed Bambi wanted to have nothing to do with them.

Ria looked down at her son and explained with a soft, soothing voice; "That are little Faline and Alani."Bambi looked from her at the two girls, who had stopped giggling and kept staring at him. But he still didn't move. Alani didn't understand why he was reluctant to play with them. They didn't want to do him any harm, after all.

Faline seemed to think something similar and turned to her mother. "He's kind of bashful, isn't he, Mama?" she asked. Alani didn't say anything; she just looked at Bambi and tried to look as nice as possible. She didn't want him to be scared of her or Faline.

Although she didn't look at Ena, she could hear her respond to Faline's question. "Well, maybe he wouldn't be if you'd say hello," she suggested. Faline didn't hesitate and jumped forward, scaring Bambi even more with coming closer. Alani followed her slowly.

"Hello," she said quietly, while Faline said with a louder voice, slightly giggling; "Hello, Bambi." Bambi was still scared of the girls and hurriedly backed of. Shyly, he peeked through the hind legs of his mother.

"I said hello." Faline didn't like it at all when others didn't respond to her. She wanted Bambi to be her friend and to play with her like all the other fawns she'd met. She kept walking towards Bambi so she stood under Ria now. Bambi backed up again. Alani kept standing where she was.

She was lost in thoughts, remembering the first time she met Ronno, Caio and Valentino. She had been so scared back then because it was the first time she met other fawns. Maybe Bambi felt the same way. With a slight smile, she said; "We won't do you any harm. All we want is being your friends." Bambi looked at her with big eyes.

"Don't you want to answer?" Ria looked at her son, who responded wordless, only shaking his head. Ena and Ama grinned silently when they saw the Great Princess of the Forest holding back a chuckle.

"You're not afraid, are you?" Again, the two other does grinned, now at the slightly teasing tone of their best friend. It was obvious that the two strange fawns, GIRLS at that, scared the Young Prince.

This time, the way Bambi shook his head was far more determined. He and being afraid! Not of those two! That would be far too embarrassing. But it still seemed to shock him very much when his mother suddenly walked around him. "Well, then go ahead." She gently pushed him forward so he was right in front of the doe-fawns, without any shelter. He immediately backed off.

Bambi turned his head to Ria, seeking for help or any kind of support. The doe smiled, but she stayed merciless. She gave him an encouraging glance. "Go on, say hello."

The little buck-fawn lowered his head in defeat. "H'lo," he mumbled quietly. It was hardly understandable, but enough for Faline. Full of excitement and joy, she began to hop around Bambi, giggling like crazy. This seemed to scar Bambi even more, but Alani couldn't help but start to laugh as well. She knew Faline had simply too much energy and was giggly, girly fawn.

"She's always like that," Alani told Bambi, who looked at her with a bewildered expression. Their attention was quickly drawn to Faline who suddenly appeared in front of Bambi and playfully raised her front legs in the air. She wanted her friends to play with her! Bambi started to back up again, trying to get away from Faline.

"Watch out, there's a-"Alani cried when she suddenly realized something, but it was already to late. She winced when Bambi fell through the reed right behind him and a splash interrupted her sentence. " – pond." The last word was only a low whisper.

She saw how Faline's head disappeared between the reed plants and walked over as well. Bambi was so shy and insecure; she wanted to see if he was okay. Alani giggled when she finally saw her two friends again and noticed how Faline teased the buck-fawn. The blue-eyed fawn licked Bambi's cheek, blinked at Alani and disappeared again, only to do the same on Bambi's other side. The dark-furred doe-fawn decided to join her friend, just for the fun of it.

Bambi had no idea in which direction he should look, because now the girls 'attacked` from two sides and either nudged him, licked his cheek or simply giggled behind his back. While the doe-fawns enjoyed their little game, Bambi's anger grew and grew. They didn't mean any harm, but it annoyed him to be the victim of them having fun.

So when Bambi caught Faline's glance before she could hide again, his stare was so furious that the doe fawn squealed in surprise. She blinked a few times, but that didn't make Bambi go away. Alani, who had a hard time holding back her laughter, watched how Faline fled. Bambi quickly jumped after her.

Bambi chased Faline around Ama, Ria and Ena, even running below the does' tummies. It seemed as if the mothers enjoyed the playfulness of their fawns, for they were exchanging glances and grinned.

Suddenly, Bambi spotted Alani, who was still standing there, giggling. He dashed towards her and with a surprised squeal, she fled as well. When she saw Faline running away from their mothers, she followed her friend.

The doe-fawns ran up a rock in front of them. Maybe they could spot Bambi this way before he got close to them again. It wasn't that they were afraid of him, but it was a game and they didn't want to lose.

They looked around. "Where is he?" Faline asked quietly. But Alani only shook her head. Somehow, the buck-fawn had managed to disappear.

Both of them backed up in shock when Bambi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, or better, jumped at the rock from the other side. But unlucky Alani slipped and found herself lying on the grassy floor just one moment later. Confused, she looked around. Faline and Bambi still stood on the rock, just as startled as her.

"Are you hurt?" Bambi asked. It was the first time that he uttered a complete sentence in the presence of the doe-fawns. Alani stretched her legs and stood up. Everything seemed to be okay. She shook her head.

"No, I'm fine."

Suddenly, the three young deer heard the sound of many hooves. They looked at the other end of the meadow and saw a whole herd of stags galloping over the green grass. There had to be at least a dozen if them, if not two. The fawns were amazed; they had never seen so many stags at one time. For Bambi, it was the first time he saw a full grown stag and he watched them in awe.

The stags looked wonderful how they ran there in unison, with their heads, crowned by strong antlers, proudly lifted in the air. It was a breathtaking thought that Bambi, Caio and Ronno would one day look like that, too.

Two stags shortly battled each other and locked their antlers, but soon after, they followed their herd again. But still, it impressed the young ones, especially Bambi.

It seemed as if he wanted to start training to be like them at once. When Alani looked up, she saw how he lowered his head and jumped towards Faline, who fled again for some reason. But instead of running back to her mother, she turned around and walked up to Alani's side. Both doe-fawns backed up a little when the stags ran past the rock.

But Bambi didn't hesitate. He jumped down the rock, copying the way the stags moved. The girls looked after him, unsure whether to follow him or not. Eventually, they decided they liked watching the stags better, but climbed on the rock where Bambi had been standing a few moments ago.

Both were fascinated by the sight of the stags, how they could jump and how fast they ran. Bambi was not half as impressing as them, but he was still small, after all. When the herd and their friend were out of sight, the two little does decided to follow them without saying a single word.

But then all of sudden, all the stags came to a hold and looked at something. The fawns had no idea why, but after slowly walking a little closer, they stopped as well and stared at a single magnificent figure which came out of the shadow of the trees.

Faline and Alani hardly dared to breathe while they watched The Great Prince entering the meadow. They didn't move a single muscle, only their eyes, which were following the slow movements the stag made. He looked neither to the left, nor to the right, although he had to be aware of the fact that all deer stared at him.

"Who's that?" Faline whispered in awe and unusually calm.

"The Great Prince of the Forest," Alani answered with a quiet voice, not daring to say more or speak louder. Silence followed, in which the fawns watched how Bambi and his father stood face to face for the first time. Of course Faline didn't know that they were father and son, but it didn't matter. She was impressed, anyway.

The mighty stag and the tiny fawn just stared at each other for a few moments. Neither of them said a single word. The stag obviously didn't think it was necessary, and Bambi wasn't daring enough to talk to him. Then, the Great Prince continued walking across the meadow, leaving behind a impressed Bambi. Faline and Alani saw how Ria approached her son and talked to him.

Slowly, the deer began to move again, losing their respectful stillness. Some began running or fighting again, others began to graze, burying their muzzles in the green grass.

"Mother told me about the Great Prince, but he is far more impressive than I imagined him to be," Faline said. Alani could tell she slowly became herself again, judging by her friends grin.

"I've seen him before. He saved me from a wolf," Alani told her. Faline of course demanded to hear the entire story and Alani had no problem with telling it, but without mentioning the fact that she and The Great Prince were related. It was kind of a private thing to her.

She had just finished talking when suddenly, the scenery changed. Just like when The Great Prince had arrived, all deer were standing still from one second to the other. But this time, it lasted only for a short moment. The fawns had no idea what was happening, but they heard the crows caw high above them and saw how suddenly, all deer began to run.

Alani began to panic. The fear and the hurry the other deer where in began to posses her as well and her heart rate increased very quickly. She began to run without knowing why or where. She just felt she had to go where they went.

"Man! Man!" the other animals shouted.

Man? Where was Man? Did Man cause all this?

´What's going on?` she wanted to cry, but no sound came over her lips, just her fast breath. She looked around to search Faline, but her friend was gone, carried away by the fleeing herd.

"Alani!," she suddenly heard her mother's worried voice. That made her stop heedlessly running around. Ama's voice was like a sheet-anchor she could hold on to.

"Mother!" she cried in return, hoping her mother would find her easier this way. She longed for the feeling of safety she always had when she was close to her mother. Following each other's voice, mother and child eventually found each other. Alani had been knocked down by the fleeing deer one time, but she quickly recomposed herself when she saw her mother's light brown fur between the other deer.

"Follow me, quick! Stay close!" Ama ordered restlessly and quickly dashed towards the thicket, which promised safety from the deathly shots which already rang through the air like thunder in a storm. Alani struggled to keep up with her mother's pace, but she knew that if she fell behind, she was lost.

"Keep running, keep running!" Ama shouted above the noise, panicking herself. She kept repeating it until they reached the dim light of the thicket and disappeared into it without looking back. Ama, and Alani with her, didn't stop until they had reached their den. Here, she allowed herself and her fawn to come to a hold and catch their breath.

Alani still felt troubled and distraught. She had never felt some much fear striking in her heart before.

"Mother, what happened?" she demanded to know.

Ama still panted, but when she saw how scared Alani was, she forgot about herself and licked her daughter's fur to calm her down. While doing so, she noticed how she began to relax a little herself.

"That was Man."

Now Alani could understand why everyone feared Man.


	8. Chapter 7: Riddles

Ama was worried about Alani. Since the attack, the young doe was awkwardly quiet. She barely talked and seemed to be buried deep in her thoughts. She wasn't herself. Anyone could tell that she was still pondering about what had happened on the meadow. She didn't look at the world with big eyes anymore, for now she saw its dangers.

When they were in their den, Ama turned to look at her daughter. Alani was staring at nothing particular, just lying there, motionless. But when her mother let out a deep sigh, the fawn raised her head a little. She noticed her mother looked worried and sad, and wondered why.

"Are you alright, Alani?"

Alani thought about that question. Was she? No, not really. Since she had encountered Man on the meadow, she couldn't think about him without fear. The picture of the buck getting shot, the buck lying on the ground with a pained face, didn't leave her alone. But she didn't want her mother to know, so she faked a smile.

"I'm fine, mother. Don't worry 'bout me."

"But I do worry. I was barely older than you when Man took the life of one of us, and I was very scared." It had been a friend of the Great Prince, a handsome young stag. He had been busy impressing a doe when suddenly, thunder sounded and he ran away with flying hooves. Later, she had seen him lying in his own blood. Ama had never been able to forget this day. Even know, she shuddered at the thought.

Alani was silent. After a while, she asked with a voice full of sadness; "Mother, why does Man do that. What did we do to them?"

Ama sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. It has always been like that and will go on this way." She lowered her gaze.

"Did man take someone you loved?"

Ama looked up and nodded. "Yes, many." Faces of her fallen loved ones appeared before her inner eyes, although she didn't want to think about them. She sighed once again.

"That means Man will never stop?" the fawn asked dejected and looked at her mother, a faint gleam of hope still left in her eyes. Ama was down-hearted to see Alani like that, and much more saddened by the answer she had to give.

"No."

Alani's hear dropped. Ama nuzzled her comfortingly. She knew how the little one was feeling, for she sensed that Alani was not only worried about her life, but also about her friends'. They hadn't met anyone they knew, but that didn't mean anything.

"Mother…you think the others are okay?"

"I'm sure. They're fine, you'll see."Ama didn't want to worry her anymore, but she couldn't know for sure if the other deer were still alive. Her mate crossed her mind, but she shook her head to get him out of her thoughts.

"Mother?" Alani asked in confusion. She had noticed the motion.

Ama smiled faintly. "It's nothing, Alani. Sleep now, tomorrow, the world will look completely different." She laid her head down and closed her eyes. Alani hesitated, but then did as she was told. Soon, nothing could be heard but calm breathing.

"We must endure everything, Alani. We have to be smart and fast so we can survive," Ama whispered after a few moments. Alani opened one of her eyes for a second, but didn't answer. Probably Ama was right. But she would only really understand it when she was older.

She didn't even notice how she fell asleep. When she opened her eyes for the next time, it was bright day. She was in a den that wasn't hers, and her mother was gone. She quickly stood.

"Mother?" The fawn left the den, but there was still no sign of Ama. Calling for her, Alani walked around in the foreign looking forest area. But Ama didn't show up.

The doe-fawn stopped after a while. She was lost and at a loss of what to do. She wondered what had happened. Where was her mother? And where in the world was she, anyways? She sighed in desperation and lowered her head.

But then, she suddenly heard voices. Her ears perked up. Although she had no clue who it was, the young deer was happy, for she wasn't alone anymore. She hurried to follow the calls.

After only a few meters, Alani spotted three other deer. She quickly hid in a few bushes so she wasn't seen and could get a good look at the strangers.

The fawns were around her age, with big eyes and spotted pelts. They seemed to be siblings, since they called each other "bro" and "sis". The only male was chestnut colored with a black head and back streak and bluish-green eyes, the smaller doe was pale chestnut brown with ink blue eyes and the other doe…well, the other doe looked exactly like Ama. But she was a little fawn and had no scars. Weird.

After a while, the little pale doe noticed Alani and stopped. She stared at the dark fawn with wide eyes.

"What is it, Fay?" the other doe asked and walked up to her. The fawn named Fay moved one leg towards Alani and said; "There."

Her siblings looked at Alani, who didn't make an attempt to flee. Why should she? The others surely would do her no harm.

"Hey, you," the buck fawn called. "Come out."

Alani obeyed the authoritarian voice and stepped out of the bushes, towards the other fawns. They seemed relieved that she was obviously only another fawn who was to shy to approach them directly.

"Why are you watching us? Who are you?" the male asked. But he didn't sound suspicious, it seemed more like he was surprised and curious.

"Alani. I…I think I lost my way." That wasn't a complete lie. The male fawn smiled.

"Then we'll help you out. By the way, I'm Coryn, and these are my sisters Fay and Ama."

It was as if Alani had been hit by a flash. So this fawn _was _her mother! The dark doe was unable to speak, she just stared at the light brown doe with her muzzle hanging slightly open.

Young Ama seemed to feel uncomfortable with someone staring at her like that, so she looked at her siblings, seeking for help. Coryn and Fay had bewildered expressions as well. "Is everything alright?" Ama asked slowly, waking Alani from her trance-like state. She hastily shook her head.

"What? Ehm…no. I mean YES! Yes, I'm fine. You just resemble someone I know," Alani hurried to answer. The other fawns looked at each other with uncertain expressions.

Fay was the first to talk again. She was small, weak and dainty, but she had a kind nature and a big heart. "Where do you live? Where's your mother?" she asked quietly and smiled.

Alani continued looking at Ama for a moment, but then, she answered. "I don't know. All I remember is that suddenly, mother was gone. I went looking for her, and now, I'm lost." She still had no idea what was happening, but one thing was sure. This wasn't normal, not in a single way.

"We could walk around a little and you say if you recognize something. Maybe we'll even meet father or my big brother," Coryn suggested and started walking without waiting for her response. The girls looked at each other for a moment, but then decided to follow him. _What do I have to lose? I won't recognize anything, but it's better than standing around. _Alani thought to herself.

The four of them talked why they were examining the forest. Alani found out that it was true what she had thought; she was in a past before she was even born. The father of the three was her grandfather, the current Great Prince. In her time, he was dead, and the brother of Coryn, Fay and Ama, Bambi's father, was the ruler. So Fay and Coryn had to be her aunt and uncle. But why was she here? And how?

She pondered about this, but soon she began turning her attention to her newfound…friends again. Were they friends? Maybe for a short little while. However, the fawns started playing after a while, not caring about the ways they took anymore. And as anyone could guess, when they stopped again, they had no clue where they were anymore.

"Oh my, I think we're lost," Coryn noticed and looked around. Embarrassed, the does looked to the ground.

"Mother sure is worried," Ama said. Alani tried to smile.

"Well, we're in the same situation now, I guess."

"Seems like it," Fay agreed.

Coryn closed his eyes for a moment. If he hadn't been a deer, he would have rubbed his temples. But as it was, he only thought about their situation for a moment and lifted his head high in the air as if he would carry large antlers on it. Instantly, the does looked at him.

"Standing around and complaining doesn't help anyone. Let's move on, maybe we'll find the way home on our own," he ordered.

"And if not?" Fay whimpered. She was miserable, felt unprotected and alone in the huge wide world, although her siblings and her new friend were around.

"It will be alright, Sis, you'll see," Ama said comfortingly and nosed her. Fay smiled a little, but didn't seem to be very convinced. Fear and concern were clear on her face.

"We have to go. Come on," Coryn said and started walking. Alani noticed how much of a leader he was. She liked the young buck, but at the same time, she wondered how and where he was in her time. Why had her mother never mentioned her siblings, for that matter?

She was deep in thoughts when she suddenly heard something. A voice, fine and light as a carillon, called her name. She stopped in her steps, her ears playing to catch the sound. There, there was it again.

She made out that the voice must've come out of the bushes. She took a step in that direction, but hesitated. There was something white-golden between the leaves, she could see it. What did all of this mean?

"Alani, what are you doing?" Ama asked. She had turned around as soon as Alani had stopped walking. Coryn and Fay stood still now as well, waiting for an answer. Alani looked at them in clear confusion.

"Don't you hear it? Someone is calling my name!" The calls hadn't stopped, and now, she heard the voice again. "There, listen!" The other fawns did, but as much as they tried, they couldn't hear anything but the usual voices of the forest.

"You're imagining it. Maybe you're tired. Come on, we have to get home," Coryn judged impatiently. All he wanted was to find the way home, to his mother, who had to be worried sick. Alani followed for a few moments, but then, she turned sharply. The voice again.

"Alani, come here. Have no fear, but you must follow me."

She looked at the others, then at the bushes where she saw white fur again. The young doe felt a sudden urge to follow that voice. Without thinking, she stormed towards the undergrowth, not caring about the yells of her companions. But when she saw the doe-fawn who had called her, she froze.

The doe was extraordinary in her appearance. Her pelt was white as snow, something Alani of course didn't know yet, and her skull and a broad streak running down her back to her tail where light golden. Only her eyes were a little darker; they had the color of amber. She smiled at Alani for a moment, only to turn on her hind hooves and bound away.

Without hesitation, Alani followed. She didn't even notice the siblings running after and calling her. She had lost all her senses and only felt the wish to get behind the secret of this doe.

They ran for quite some time, and Coryn, Fay and Ama didn't stop once. They had come to the conclusion that Alani was mad in her head, and even though Fay was worn-out, she rejected the suggestion to take a break. All three siblings wanted to prevent the odd fawn from hurting herself in any way.

They were in the outer parts of the forest now, and suddenly, the white doe stopped. Alani came to a halt as well.

"Who are you?" she panted. The others were a good distance away, so they could hear her talking. But she didn't get a response. The other doe just smiled, jumped into the undergrowth and was gone. Alani searched for her, but who- or whatever that might have been, she was gone.

That was when the siblings arrived. Coryn was furious, to say the least. Immediately, he yelled at Alani; "What was this about? Have you lost your mind? You can't just run off as if Man was after you! Do you have any idea who badly you could have get hurt?!"

"But that doe…" She hesitated and looked at her fellow deer. Had they really not seen the strange animal?

Fay confirmed it. "There was no one but you."

Alani's head sank low. "Oh."

They stood there for a few moments, unable to speak. Alani was embarrassed and the siblings didn't want to torture here more. The silence was interrupted by voices. But this time, they weren't in Alani's head, for the other fawns' ears perked up as well.

"Voices," Ama stated the obvious.

"Let's follow them;" Coryn suggested and the four of them slowly followed the sounds. When they felt like the ones who caused them were close, they hid in the bushes and peeked out. Fay squealed in surprise.

"Man;" Ama whispered and immediately attempted to flee.

"Stay!" Coryn ordered harshly to avoid getting spotted. He explained something to the does, but Alani didn't even listen.

_It's them again _she thought and stared at the humans. Without doubt, the three teenagers who took a walk through the forest were Alicia, Cassie and Dan. While they were paying attention to their steps and enjoyed nature, they chatted casually. Alani wanted to run away, but on the other hand, she was curious and considered to step towards the humans. Eventually, she decided to stay hidden and listen to their talk.

"Dad will be furious when he finds out we're here again," Cassie, the black haired girl, said to her siblings in this very moment. It wasn't clear if she was serious or not, but the other two didn't seem to worry.

"Yeah, something could happen to his little princess," Daniel joked and looked at Alicia, whose mouth dropped in a frown. But then, she tried a slight smile and punched her brother's arm in a playful manner.

"Stop it, Dan. Let me enjoy being away from home for this one day."

"He's just worried, Lis."

"I know." Alicia sighed and looked at her sister. "But he drives me crazy. Tell me, how big is the probability that I get run over by a car when I'm off to school? Or that I get fatally sick when I'm out in the rain once?" She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Very big. You're his first daughter, you know."

"And I'm not important?" Cassie pulled a face.

"Of course not," Daniel reassured her. "But you didn't almost die at your birth." The siblings looked at each other, as well as the four deer.

"What are you doing here?" a stern voice behind them suddenly asked. Instantly, the fawns turned around and stood face-to-face with a very angry future Great Prince. He was more furious than Coryn had been before.

He was younger, of course, but still very impressive. On his head was a rack of eight points.

"We…you see, we…" Ama stammered, but when her big brother threw her and icy glance, she fell silent. Prince turned to Coryn, for he was to protect his sisters, but paused when he spotted Alani. She unwillingly stiffened at the intensity of his gaze.

"Who is this doe?"

"Her name's Alani. We've met her just today," Fay quietly answered with a lowered glance. Prince looked at her, but much less scolding than when he looked at his other siblings. Then, he turned to Alani.

"Where's your mother?"

"I don't know," Alani whispered shyly. She didn't want to lie, but the truth, the fact that the fawn beside her was her mother, would be unbelievable. Prince narrowed his eyes in dismay. Immediately, Coryn stepped forward to protect the doe, although it was clear that he was afraid to stand up against Prince.

"She lost her way and we tried to help her. And doing so, we got lost, too," he explained and held his breath. Prince still looked furious and very frightening.

"You should have called mother instead of making her worried sick. It's bad enough that Mila ran off to hang out with some young bucks, but at least she is able to handle herself," he scolded them harshly. They lowered their heads in shame. But then, Coryn felt a spark of anger and threw his head in the air.

"We are able to as well!"

"Silence!" Coryn winced at the yell. "You can't. You're way too small. Now come on, I'll bring you to mother and father. You too, Alani." With lowered heads and ears, the fawns followed him.

"I'm sorry," Alani said quietly.

"It's not your fault," Ama whispered back. But Alani still felt guilty.

They were silent the whole rest of the way, until two deer came running towards them. One was an especially tall stag, maybe twelve, if not fourteen points, the other was a light colored doe.

"Fay, Ama, Coryn! Thank heavens, you're okay," the doe cried and nuzzled each of her fawns. Then she looked at Prince, who had walked up to his father. She thankfully smiled at him.

"Where did you find them, my son?"

"Near the path where Man often walks." None of the fawns dared to say that they had actually seen Man. Things would only get worse.

"What? They were so far away?" their father exclaimed.

"Father, we…"

"I don't wanna hear anything, son!" Coryn winced when he was yelled at again. He backed up and lowered his head, gaining a pitiful glance of Alani, whereas The Great Princess looked at her mate with clear dismay.

While her grandfather spoke to his children, Alani made an attempt to sneak off. But after a few steps, she spotted something in the shadows of the trees. Her heart rate increased.

"Man!" There was a man with a gun which he now raised, ready to shoot. She ran, shouting so the others would notice the danger. Thunder sounded while she ran in fear. She knew that this time, her mother wouldn't be able to help her.

Pain shot through her body when a bullet hit her flank. Did she have to die now? The doe stumbled and fell, her limp body crashing to the ground. She felt how something shoved himself over her body and cowered above her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing went hard.

"Alani, wake up!"

Her eyes shot open. There was her mother, but as adult doe, not as fawn. And her den was back, too. Everything was normal again.

"I…I had a bad dream," Alani panted more to herself than to her mother. She thought of her dream again, but she could hardly remember single things. She just knew that she had been in the past, and with her a white doe…

"Alani, how did you know those names?" Ama asked suspiciously.

"Names?"

"Fay and Coryn."

"I dreamed of them. They were your siblings. Is that true?"

Ama's eyes widened. "Yes. Yes, that's true." She shook her head and closed her eyes in surprise and shock. When she looked at Alani again, her glance was without emotion. Not lifeless, but unusually cold. She was upset; Alani saw and was it herself.

The fawn was speechless. Could it be that her dream was true? Why did she dream of the past and of Man? Without intention to do so, she suddenly told her mother about the entire dream. She had to talk about it, it didn't leave her alone.

Ama was more than shocked. It couldn't be that Alani dreamed of such things. That wasn't normal, wasn't possible.

"Alani, you mustn't tell anyone about those dreams. They're…not normal. Don't talk about them!" Her voice was high-pitched and full of fear. Alani winced and nodded in shame.

"Yes, mother."

"Very well." Ama took a deep breath. "If you understood, then let's sleep now." All she wanted was time to think, so she lay down.

Alani thought about the dream and herself for a long time. _They're not normal…Does that mean __**I **__am not normal? An outsider? _Would others cast her out and defy her? She feared so. A ring of fear closed around her hearts. She decided not to talk about her dreams ever again. Then her mother wouldn't need to be upset again. Yes, that was it.

Alani closed her eyes and began sleeping again with a silent smile. Maybe her dreams would go away by themselves.

Only time would teach her how wrong she was at that.

**The next morning **

Alani was walking around by herself. Ama wasn't far away, but while she was grazing, the fawn wanted to explore. But the main reason was that she wanted to be alone, to think. Although she had been sure that the dreams would go away, she still felt kinda sick. It was like a cloud hovering above her head.  
"What's wrong with me?" she murmured.

"Nothing's wrong with you," the bright voice from her dream called. Alani turned sharply.

There! The white doe! She was standing before a tree, smiling cheerfully. She looked kind, but Alani took a step backwards.

"You mustn't be here!" She cried. She wasn't crazy!"  
"I must be here. You will understand it in time. Just be sure for now that everything is okay with you. You are something special, but just at times. For now, just live your life without worry about that. Everything will make sense eventually, you'll see," the doe said. And then, she was gone.

Alani just stood there for one moment, but then, she ran after her. "Stop! Who are you? Why am I special? Wait!"

But all shouting and crying was in vain. Panting, Alani stopped in her steps and looked around. Nothing. The doe was gone.

"Who am I?" Alani whispered tonelessly.

"Alani?" A little deer jumped in front of her. It was Bambi, and he was smiling at her with innocent cheerfulness.

"Who are you talking to?"

"With…with a squirrel, one of my mother's friends. But now, she's gone away," Alani lied quickly. But Bambi didn't suspect anything. She was lucky.

"Oh, alright. Do you want to play with me? Mother is with yours."

"Yes, sure," Alani nodded. Playing was normal. She was normal, as she wanted to be. But one question didn't leave her head.

Who was she?


	9. Chapter 8: Light and Shadows

**Chapter 8: Light and shadows**

Unenthusiastically, Alani tugged a few long grass stalks until they gave in and detached from the ground. She slowly chewed, squelching the greens with her teeth, swallowed them and looked around the evening meadow. Yes, she already ate grass. She was a few months old now and everyone could see that she was about to become a beautiful young doe. Summer's end was approaching fast and it wouldn't be long until the leaves started to change color and silently fall to the ground.

Ama had told her about fall and winter. About how beautiful both looked, but that both were a time of misery and need. The grass would become brown and withered and the trees and bushes would lose all their leaves until only their bare branches would be left. Food would be very hard to find and sometimes, it would be terribly cold. And the beautiful snow would be so icy that it would cut into their sensitive legs until they would be sore.

Alani shook her head. No, she didn't want that.

But that wasn't which had downed her mood. The source was her dreams, what else.  
She had had another last night.

Those dreams just didn't let her be. They occurred again and again, and they always followed the same pattern. She was all alone in some place, the teenagers appeared somewhere, she listened to parts of their talks, sometimes this white creature walked around, something bad happened and then, she woke up.

She had become a master of acting, by now, her mother didn't even notice anymore when she had a nightmare. When she had been younger, she had always woken up with a pounding heart, her eyes largely widened and her muzzle opened to scream. But not anymore. Since she had had the first dream with _her, _as she liked to call the white doe, she had never mentioned her special dreams again. Her mother was relieved, since everything seemed to be normal again.  
But it wasn't, not at all.

Those dreams were driving her crazy. It wasn't that something terrible happened. Most of what she got to see of Alicia was very positive. She was good with animals, for example, Alani could tell that by the way how she cared for her dog. Alani had also noticed that her dog didn't at all look like the ones she was used to. He had short sturdy legs, thick white fur with black and brown patches, friendly eyes and two floppy ears. A very friendly little guy, Alani had even talked to him once.

Alicia also had a cat, a velvet black creature. He preferred sitting on branches and had a rather harsh nature, but he was very intelligent. The little doe liked him.

Alicia always behaved friendly towards her, although the girl was very stubborn. Especially when she was around her father. Alani snorted. Alicia was lucky to still have a father.

The nightmarish ends of her dreams didn't bother Alani, either. A deer had to deal with many things, why should a few minutes of fear bother her?

No, the thing that drove her crazy was that they just didn't stop, no matter how much she tried to forget about them. She couldn't even talk with someone about them, she was too afraid to be rejected and outcasted if someone found out how odd she was.

She remembered well how she had rested in her secret place, a depression under the fallen trunk of a beech, one day after such a nightmare. She had just run off, the fawn knew that Ama didn't mind.

She often let Alani on her own, this simply was the way of the deer. If something happened to her, Ama wanted Alani to be able to fend for herself. And the fawn was. She knew what she could eat and what not, was able to listen and smell, and knew how the days went in the forest. Basically, she would be able to live on her own, but that time wouldn't come in a while.

On that day, she had just lay there and stared at the leaves before her.

And the one who had eventually found her was none other than Caio. The nice, good Caio. He was the nicest of her friends, the one with the most sympathy. He was always there for her. Kind of like a brother. And he always defended her, it was really…cute.

It wasn't as if she didn't like Tino and Ronno as well. But Ronno sometimes made such remarks of which she never knew how to take them. It was hard to feel really close to him like she did to the brothers. Sometimes, she couldn't even have a real talk with him because it was so easy to upset him. But somehow, she still liked the buck fawn.

Tino…yes, Tino was a great guy. She was sure he would protect her as well, from Ronno, from other young bucks, just not from himself. He was reckless, adventurous, and when she doubted their actions, he always tried to calm her down. But sometimes, her doubts had their purpose. And that was when Caio was by her side.

He just understood her; she didn't know what else could describe it.

He had understood her that morning, when she had lay there, her body shivering. He had laid down beside her, put his head on her shoulders and stayed silent until she had stopped crying.

And then, he had calmly asked her what had happened. She would have liked to tell her, really.

But she couldn't.

She almost smiled when she thought about their conversation.

"_Alani, no one acts like that if nothing's up. What happened? Is something wrong with your mother, Bambi, Faline?" His voice sounded worried, as it did often when something seemed to be wrong with her._

_She sighed, clearly annoyed. She was a little sad, but she just couldn't tell him. What would he think if she told him? "They're all alright. As am I." She sniffed one more time and stretched her legs to get up._

"_Could you put down your head?" she asked, a little harsher than she had actually intended to. Startled, Caio flicked his head back and looked at her with those trustful eyes, as if she had beaten him. Alani sighed and remained lying. "Caio, I didn't mean to…I…I'm just a little jazzed, okay?"_

_But why? He gently licked along the trails of tears on her cheeks. The fur below her eyes was still a little wet and tasted salty._

_She closed her eyes and shook her head, so his tongue stroked her cheek. This…felt nice, really. Both of them felt it. But the two of them acted as if nothing had happened, although their blood rushed into their cheeks and they were glad that their fur hid it. They were still fawns, they didn't know how to judge the little fluttering feeling in their bellies. _

"_I…um…" Alani stammered. "I didn't sleep well. Nightmares, you know. Hey, where is your brother, anyway?" Just changing the topic would surely help._

"_Oh, he is with that doe fawn we met lately." He giggled. "If you want to, we can go looking for them." He got up._

"_Yeah, let's go!" Alani said enthusiastically. She was glad he didn't mention that incident again._

She sighed. That had been one and a half, almost two weeks ago. And once again, she was torn inwardly because of those stupid dreams. But actually, nothing bad had happened! She had just watched Alicia in a park. The girl had been very small, maybe around six years old, and had had a picnic with her family, played with a kite and her dad had carried her around on his back.

Why didn't all of this just end? Who was that girl?

"Someone of great importance."

Suddenly the white doe stood beside her and smiled gently.

"Oh, go away," Alani snarled. It was nothing new, that this…creature read her thoughts, simply appeared and disappeared again after a while. She most likely was just a product of her sick fantasy or her damaged psyche.

"I'm not," she laughed.

"Oh yeah? And why is no one else able to see you then, _Jin_?" That was the name the white doe had told her. It meant "golden" or something like that. Alani only snarled once more, for one thing because she was deeply irritated, for another because she didn't want to draw unnecessary attention by having "talks with herself". She was totally insane, anyway, she had to deal with it.

"Possibly because I don't want to be seen?" Jin replied totally unaffected, lowered her head and nibbled some clover, but then, she pulled a face. She actually didn't like that green stuff, as she didn't even have to eat.

"I don't want to see you either!"

"Well, I'm afraid you have to. By the way, Bambi and Faline are on their way here." She turned and casually walked off. Alani just shook her head. She had stopped following her long ago. There was no point in it, why should she waste her energy?

The doe fawn sighed once more and looked around. Usually, Jin was right in her predictions. And she was again this time – Bambi and Faline hopped over cheerfully.

"Hello, Alani!" Faline cheerfully greeted her. Bambi joined her, by no means less joyful. But Alani simply grumbled a short "Hi".

Bambi grinned. "Huh? Haven't you slept well?" He didn't mean to be mean, she knew so. Bambi was much too naïve to just _think _anything mean.

"You could say so, yeah," Alani nodded and nibbled on another bunch of grass.

"Do you still want to play with us?" Faline asked friendly, yet cautiously. She was more considerate than Bambi. She was already calming down her giggly personality, it seemed. Alani realized how much they all had changed throughout the last few months.

The reddish doe fawn briefly considered saying no, but then, she nodded and gave her two friends a small smile. At least she would be able to for a little while.

"Sure, why not?"

"Wohoo!" Bambi exclaimed and jumped around her. The two does laughed, until Bambi playfully lowered his head and charged at them, like he had done the day they met. Alani and Faline exchanged a look, both grinning widely, and bolted away, their laughter filling the air.

For a while, they just chased each other as they had done their entire life. Although Alani had already started to lose her spots – Faline and Bambi hadn't, much to her surprise – they were still fawns and fawns loved to play.

But as she was, Bambi and Faline were alone, since all does wanted their fawns to be able to be on their own.

"Hey guys!" a voice suddenly called. Alani quickly turned around, beaming, so she could greet the newly arrived friends.

"Caio! Tino!"

"Hello," Valentino called, whereas his brother merely smiled. Both of them had changed outwardly as well, just like Alani they had grown and their spots started to lose themselves in brown fur. With wide steps, the twins trotted towards the other fawns.

"Do you want to join us?"

"We were actually looking for Ronno, but we can't find him anywhere," Caio told them. The others couldn't tell if he was happy or disappointed because of the disappearance of their friend.

"Who is that Ronno, anyway?" Faline asked curiously. Up to this point, she had always only heard his name, but never encountered him. Somehow, they had always missed each other. With Bambi, it was the same.

"Oh, a friend of ours. Reddish fur, green eyes, a little tough to deal with", Caio gave a brief description, but still sounded friendly doing so.

"Aha," Faline said and looked at the two brothers. "And he is missing?"

"Yeah, he stormed off to find an older buck who made fun of him," Tino told, looking a little worried. A bad feeling crept into Alani's veins.

"You don't mean Schatten, do you?" Schatten was a rough young buck, full of strength and far too much pride. He had made fun of Ronno's smaller height when the reddish buck had bragged once more, and upset the fawn. But Ronno wouldn't…

"But if he challenges Schatten…" The thought scared Alani. She liked Ronno, really.

"He won't. Even Ronno isn't that reckless," Tino said reassuringly and decided to let that issue be. "I'm sure he will show up soon. You are still okay with us joining your game?" He looked around and was met by unsure faces. Bambi and Faline looked at Alani, who in turn gave the brothers a worried look. Alani tended to be overly cautious, that was true, but since they knew neither Ronno nor Schatten, Bambi and Faline weren't really able to judge the situation.

Tino sighed and smiled kindly. "Alani, you're worrying too much. I'm sure Ronno is fine."

"Yeah…maybe you're right", Alani answered slowly, unable to get rid of the feeling that he wasn't. She still looked rather unsure. But maybe she really was too paranoid, she told herself.

"He is! And now let's play!" Caio agreed with his brother and quickly bolted away, making the others follow him. For a while, they kept playing, chased each other and rolled through the grass.

But then, the white figure appeared to Alani again. Suddenly, Jin jumped out of the undergrowth before her. But for a change, she didn't smile, her face was serious instead and rose a even more uncomfortable feeling inside Alani.

"Follow me, quick," the white doe whispered and turned.

"But…what…," Alani stammered and looked at her friends, who hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped. Jin suddenly swirled around and gave Alani a sharp look, making the fawn back off in shock. "Don't ask, just follow me! It's because of your friend, Ronno!"

"…Ronno?" Alani croaked and quickly took off. Caio, Valentino, Bambi and Faline, who had now noticed her absence and called for her, didn't matter in that moment. She just ran, although she knew the others couldn't see Jin.

Her legs raced, her heart quickly pumped frozen blood through her veins. Her thoughts raced as well. What was up with Ronno? Was he in trouble? Dead, alive, hurt? She forbid herself to think horrible things.

But what if she had to be quick? What if she arrived too late? Although her lungs were burning, she forced her legs to move even faster.

She followed Jin with blind trust; there was not much else she could do. In serious situations, the white doe had never let her down. And she didn't this time, either, as Alani soon heard two familiar voices. She froze in shock.

"Take that back!"

"What do you want to do to me if I don't, Ronny? Tell your mommy about it?"

"Oh no!" Alani gasped and quickly jumped forward, through a bush. The branches ripped on her skin and pelt and surely caused some cuts, but she didn't care. Ducked in between the plants, she watched what was happening.

There was Ronno, hooves stemmed into the ground, staring grimly at the bigger buck. Schatten stepped forward, looking at him threateningly. Alani didn't dare to breath.

"Don't you dare coming one step closer!"

Ronno lowered his antlerless head and motioned it threateningly towards Schatten, who obviously didn't know how to think about it. He raised an eyebrow when Ronno moved into a fighting position. This little runt wanted to challenge him? Brave, brave.

But if he had looked closer, he would have noticed the tiny glimmer of fear in the green eyes of the little fawn. But Ronno immediately narrowed them in anger again. But of course, he didn't look. For him, this wasn't a fawn, this was only a trouble. He proudly raised his head.

"You want to play with the big boys, Ronny? You will never be as strong as I am!"

Alani couldn't tell what happened next, but suddenly Ronno was thrown back by the other buck, before he made painful contact with the ground. Possible that Ronno had attacked the older buck in his rage, possible that Schatten had made the first strike. Whatever it was, Alani froze. That wasn't possible! Which young adult would actually beat a fawn?! She was unable to move.

And it didn't stop just then. Now restlessly furious, Ronno got up after a short moment of daze and charged at the other buck. When Schatten swung his head towards Ronno, the fawn dodged him.

"Alani, what's - NO!"

Alani swirled around. Tino and Caio had arrived and stared past her, at the fighting deer.

Valentino was almost frozen, just like his friends he couldn't understand what was going on. But unlike Alani, he did something. His face became the one of a angry bull and an insane rage filled his whole being.

"Why aren't you DOING anything?!" he yelled, jumped out with one bolt of energy and charged towards Schatten and Ronno.

The older buck was so surprised by suddenly getting rammed in the side that he stopped charging at Ronno and looked at the little dark brown beside him. Valentino glared at him.

"What do you want, runt?" Schatten called with a tone of voice between anger and confusion. Tino kept glaring, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Alani and Caio ran up to Ronno, who in turn was standing some feet, head lowered.  
"That's my friend over there! Leave him alone!"

Alani raised her head and looked at Valentino. She didn't know if to think of his behavior as foolish or as brave, but the doe couldn't help but feel a flash of admiration for her friend.

"Oh, really?" Schatten sneered. "You're friends with a coward like him?" He approached the dark fawn.

Tino shivered, stumbling backwards. When he looked at him from this point, Schatten looked much bigger and more powerful, especially compared to a fawn like him. "Y-yeah," he stammered. He even stomped, but his act wasn't really convincing.

"And you know what I do with friends of little cowards?" Schatten bared his teeth, which flashed in the last beams of sunlight. Alani shuddered. Sometimes, Schatten behaved more like a predator than a deer. Like that wolf.

The wolf…what had happened to that thing, anyway? Alani hadn't heard any more information of that thing. Maybe he had died, encountered a man's gun, or was simply gone. Honestly – she didn't really care.

Schatten and Tino, they were the ones who mattered now.

She mustered up as much bravery as she could, although she was scared, very scared, actually. But this was about her friends! "Please, stop it!" she cried with a mixture of rage and desperation.

"Yes, leave my brother alone!" Caio agreed and wanted to bolt forward, but one quick glance of Tino made him stay in his place. Caio was neither as brave nor as tall as his twin. Valentino didn't want his brother to get himself into trouble.

All of this happened very fast. Schatten looked down at Alani and Caio. "Uhhh – a girl and another runt to protect Ronny. How cute!" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

He lowered his antlers. He wouldn't –

Suddenly, a black shadow appeared above them. Alani looked up. The rustling of wings reached her ears and she noticed that something lighted down to a tree near them. Whatever it was let a screech yell through the forest and made even Schatten and Valentino let go of their argument. Alani was relieved. She didn't know what was up with Ronno, yet, but she didn't want to see another friend getting hurt today.

„My my, beating fawns! Young bucks aren't to act like that!" the bird scolded him from up on his tree. Alani would like to have laughed as she recognized the darkened brown feathers and the gleaming yellow-orange eyes, which looked at Schatten with anger in them.

"What do you want to do about it, bird?"

"Me? Nothing, but the Great Prince, who is on his way here, surely will teach you a lesson," Friend Owl said, glaring at the young buck. His face fell when he heard the title of the herd's leader. Alani couldn't help but smirk. The legs of that jerk almost shivered with fear!

The young deer actually quickly looked around. Was the Great Prince already close to them? There was only one thing he could do: get away from this place. Under the glance of four watchful eye pairs, he took off. "I…I got to go, sorry!" his quick call got to them.

"Yes, run away!" Valentino called after him in satisfaction.

Alani laughed, she couldn't help it. What cowards were the bucks who always bragged the most! This was just downright ridiculous! Schatten kinda reminded her of Ronno…had to be a family thing by some sort.

But her laughter died away when Ronno crossed her mind.

"Ronno!"

That was Caio's voice. As if there had been a unspoken sign, the two brothers and Alani jumped towards their friend, who still stood there, shaking slightly. Alani couldn't blame him.

"Ronno?" Caio asked quietly and nosed his friend. The reddish fawn raised his head a little.

Alani looked at him, eyes full of pity. The buck fawn looked miserable – little cuts here and there, his fur was dirty, his ears had dropped and he seemed a little shaky. But that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that air of hopelessness and shame that surrounded him.

Ronno was usually so full of himself, so full of satisfaction – now he finally seemed to be what he really was – a scared little fawn. There wasn't that pride in his eyes, he simply was too shocked to keep that mask up. Alani hoped with her whole heart that he would recover.

Because it was all her fault. She should have done something instead of just standing there and staring. She should have stopped him, should have stopped Schatten, anything. Of course, she wouldn't have stood a chance against the buck, she was far too small – but actually, he friends' chances weren't much bigger than hers.

It was just a fact that Ronno wouldn't be like that now if she had done something.

It was her fault.

But actually, she would soon discover something which would make the weight of guilt on her chest even heavier.

"Ronno, what the heck were you thinking?" Alani asked quietly and looked right into his face. There was no anger in her voice, not even blame. Ronno looked up, but it didn't seem as if he wanted to – or could – answer. It took him a while before he quietly said "I…oh, I don't know."

He behaved totally untypical. And to be honest, it was exactly this which scared Alani the most. She gently nosed him. Ronno immediately winced and his head shot up in the air. Slightly panicking, it turned left and right a few times, as if he feared another attack. "Hey pal, it's all right," Tino said reassuringly. Ronno looked at him, nodding. "Yeah…sure."

Alani lowered her head in shame and sighed. She looked at the ground.

And what she spotted there puzzled the doe fawn. It was almost not visible, as darkness had almost drenched the world, but the ground was noticeable darker in one spot. That looked like – no!

She quickly lowered her nose to the ground and sniffed to find out if her suspicion was right. Immediately, she raised her head again.

She was right. It was blood.

"Ronno, are you hurt?" she asked, but didn't wait for him to answer.

She stepped closer to him and examined him carefully. Shoulders, legs, neck, face – they were almost unharmed, no cuts which would bleed that strong. Eyes and nose didn't bleed either. Her gaze wandered up to his ears and she thought her heart skipped a beat.

One of his ears was ripped almost to the half and was bleeding heavily. Dang it! Dang it, dang it, dang it!

No wonder he appeared to be in a daze. The poor guy couldn't be blamed for being in a shock-like state!

_Okay, Alani, stay calm. _

"Ronno, your ear!" She almost screamed and thought to make out a slightly hysterical tone in her voice. So much about staying calm.

The others now noticed the young buck's ear as well and winced at the sight. Both Caio and Tino exclaimed something, but Alani didn't listen.

Friend Owl, who had watched them in silence, flew over to a branch closer to them. He carefully looked at the injury.

"I would suppose we better take care of that wound instead of freaking out." Unlike the fawns, he was complete and utterly calm. The night bird had much more life-experience than those young saplings, after all. Luckily he at least wouldn't be faced with "Being twitterpated" for a while. But soon, he turned his attention back on the injured fawn.

"You go and get the mother of this young buck." He pointed his wing towards Valentino, who nodded and looked very serious. The owl's gaze turned towards Caio.  
"And you will help me with finding Mrs. Nettla. She knows many things about herbs and can surely help us out on this one." Finally, he turned his gaze towards Alani, who was still standing there, feeling uncomfortable.

"And Miss Alani stays here to keep an eye on your young friend."

Oh no, please. She didn't want to be alone with Ronno. Not right now!

But they all agreed. They couldn't refuse, they were to shocked and confused to do so.

"But won't my uncle arrive here soon?" Alani dared to speak up. The night bird shook his head.

"No, the Great Prince is busy with his duties. It was…bluffed, as you young ones like to say." He winked in the fawns' direction, but then, his expression became serious again.

"I also have to tell the Young Prince and his little friend that they can go back to their mothers or whatever. But let's not waste time, it's better if we start working," he chirped and stretched his wings. He took off into the air, the two brothers following him on the ground after briefly saying goodbye to Alani.

And then, the doe and Ronno were alone.


	10. Chapter 9: Healing Wounds

**Healing wounds**

The moon slowly rose higher and higher on the night sky. Alani could see its silver light falling through the leaves, staring at the soft glow as if she was seeing it for the first time in her life. The light of the night was far different from the one at day, when the sun was shining golden and bright. The light of the moon, on the other hoof, was of pure silver and had something mysterious, magical to it. Alani had always night day better, even if her species usually was more likely to be awake at night.  
The doe fawn kept staring at the moon the whole time. She could see only parts of it, but it was enough for her. She would greet every kind of distraction so she didn't have to look at her injured friend – she wouldn't be able to deal with seeing him like that.

Awkward silence filled the mild night air. The little doe avoided looking at Ronno on purpose, but watched their surroundings when the moon eventually got too boring. Every fuzz floating by, every shaking leave, every bug seemed to be distraction enough. As long as she didn't have to look at Ronno…

She was ashamed, to say it in short. She felt really, really miserable. Poor Ronno, how bad his ear must hurt! On the outside, she looked calm, but inwardly, she was blowing herself away. She could have avoided this, damn it! Ronno wouldn't have to stand here with a ripped ear. But no, she, the great Alani, had just let one of her best friends run into his own doom. Yeah, great, well done Alani. Oh, just go and die.

Being busy with insulting herself, she didn't notice that Ronno gazed at her. Only when he noticeably cleared his throat, she winced and turned her gaze from the leaves she had intently been staring at as if she wanted to spot the slightest change of color. That was silly, of course, but that was what it had looked like for Ronno.

Tentatively, Alani raised her head and glanced at her friend. She tried to focus on his eyes, those stunning, fascinating green eyes. But she couldn't help it, her eyes darted to his ripped ear every now and then. It was still bleeding a little, but she could tell that it wasn't as bad as before.

"Hellooo!" Ronno suddenly exclaimed loudly. Alani jumped in surprise, gasping, before staring at him in bewilderment.

Much to her confusion and surprise, Ronno appeared to be pretty normal again, unlike her. He seemed to be himself, through and through. She could tell he was annoyed, but she didn't blame him. Who would want to be ignored like she did to him after a day like the one that lay behind them?

"Huh? What?"Alani shook her head. The expression on her face clearly showed that she had no idea what had just happened. Ronno let out an irritated sigh, while the doe tried to clear her head by shaking it violently.

"Earth to Alani. What are ya staring at with such fascination?"

Embarrassed, with lowered ears, she answered; "I…those trees over there."

Ronno raised an eyebrow. "Those trees over there?" he asked unbelievingly, looking as if she had just told him a deer with two heads had walked by. What was so special about trees that they were more interesting than him?

"Yeah. I…I thought I had seen a squirrel I know."

"Okay…"

Silence was after that, and Alani felt very uneasy in her skin. That was nothing new then and there, but she just wanted this moment to go by and disappear. She glanced at Ronno, who stared back undeterred and was seemingly waiting for her to talk.

_C'mon, Alani, say something!, _she thought and cleared her throat.

"Anyway, how are you feeling? Does it still hurt?" she asked, pretending to be happy and optimistic instead of the little picture of misery she was on the inside.

"Oh, it's okay. Throbs a little," Ronno replied casually.

"That's good," Alani replied flatly.

She looked away and wondered what to say. It was sometimes difficult enough to speak with Ronno when nothing had happened, but those circumstances at the moment didn't improve the situation at all.

Eventually, she turned to Ronno again and swallowed her fear. "Why…why did you do this? Why did you challenge Schatten?" she asked hesitantly, but more confident than before.

Ronno looked back at her. For a moment, he appeared to be thoughtful and lost, with his ears hanging down, but he turned them forward slowly now. After a few moment, he answered a little defiant: "He made fun of me. He needed a lesson. And I would have beaten him, believe me!"

"Of course."

Somehow, she didn't know how herself, she managed to say this in a neutral way. She didn't sound as if she fully believed him – something she of course didn't do, a fawn wouldn't stand a chance against an older buck – but she wasn't scoffing at him either. Although she didn't believe he would have won.

After that, they started talking a little about random things, but the situation remained tensed and somehow a little uneasy and awkward. Alani was nervous while Ronno felt humiliated and his pride was hurt, a pain which was far worse than a throbbing ear. It just didn't seem to be a good day at all.

Alani couldn't express how glad she was when finally, Friend Owl came into sight. He landed on the branch he had been sitting at before, and in that moment, Caio came stepping out of the bushes. An old doe and a young doe-fawn of their age appeared right after him.

Friend Owl spoke up first. "If I may introduce you to each other: those two are Mrs Nettla and Marena. And he is the fawn which needs help." He pointed first at the newly arrived deer, then at Ronno. Alani watched the doe stepping towards her friend. Her reddish-brown pelt was already grayed in the area of her muzzle and eyes, and she wasn't walking as fast as the younger deer, but still with the grace that was special to their species.

She glanced at Ronno's injury for a while with her eyes which looked knowing, but still with a certain scorn, and eventually turned towards the fawn who had arrived with her.

"Marena, please hand me the plants I told you to get," she said, not particularly unfriendly, but still with kind of a coldness in her voice.

Marena did what she was told and placed the herbs in front of Ronno. She smiled at the young buck, but he didn't seem to notice. He was busy looking at Nettla with a mixture of respect and suspicion. Alani chuckled.

Caio stepped up to her.

"Everything alright with you two?" he quietly asked his friend. She nodded.

"Yeah, everything's fine. And you? Have there been any problems?"

He shook his head. They fell silent and watched how Nettla told Ronno to eat the herbs she and Marena had brought. He refused to do so all together. She picked up a plant and held it in front of his face, but he pinned back his ears, stomped with his hind hoof and kept saying he was already feeling better. His green eyes were narrowed, stubbornly staring at Nettla.

It was actually a laughably view, but neither Caio nor Alani did laugh. Instead, they looked at Marena, who was now approaching the two fawns.

Marena was very pretty in Alani's opinion. Her light grayish-brown pelt shimmered almost like silver in the light of the moon, and her leaf-green eyes looked gently at the two friends. She appeared to be very friendly, although she was just walking towards the friends, placing every hoof carefully on the ground.

"Is he always like that?" she asked calmly and motioned her head towards Ronno.

Alani swayed her head a little, unsure how to answer on this. Betraying her friend by admitting how hard it sometimes was with him? No, never.

"Sometimes," she finally said.

Marena nodded and smiled at her and Caio.

"Oh, this is my friend Alani," the young buck suddenly told Marena, remembering the two does didn't know each other yet. He himself had talked to Marena on their way here, and they had introduced themselves to each other.

"Hello Alani, nice to meet you," Marena answered, nodding politely, and Alani returned the gesture with a smile. They looked up at Nettla and Ronno again when the old doe's harsh voice reached their ears.

"Either you're eating this herbs now or your ears possibly infects. If you want to die from it, fine, not my problem."

The three other fawns almost had to laugh when Ronno suddenly looked at Nettla in a very shocked way, and then reluctantly and grumbling ate the plants. His face looked as if someone wanted to poison him. But at least Nettla seemed to be satisfied.

"Is Nettla your mother?" Alani asked Marena.

The other young doe shook her head. "Oh no, she's just helping me out. My mother was killed by man a few weeks ago." Her bright smile faded. She lowered her ears a little, and for a moment, she looked miserable.

Alani and Caio gave her a pitiful look, although the buck-fawn had already known that, as he had asked her about it on their way here. It had confused him that such an old doe seemed to have a young fawn, especially since Nettla had kept railing against how foolish and naïve fawns, especially young bucks, were.

"I'm sorry, Marena."

Marena didn't answer, she just looked away. Alani and Caio didn't dare to say more about that issue – they both didn't even know what it was like to lose a friend or relative. They could only try to understand how horrible it was.

It was Marena who continued the conversation after some moments. She asked Alani and Caio about their families and friends, and both of them answered, smiling all the time. It was good to meet someone new.

The three fawns were so engulfed in their talk that they didn't even focus on Ronno anymore, how still glared at Nettla while eating.

Shortly after, he was done eating all of the herbs and walked towards his friends and Friend Owl along with Mrs Nettla. The buck-fawn and the two doe-fawns looked up, startled.

Alani already liked Marena. The young doe was nice and gentle, and very pleasant to be around. Maybe a little TOO nice for her taste, but she didn't really know Marena long enough to judge that.

"He should be better now, Friend Owl," Mrs Nettla told the great horned owl. He nodded and smiled at her.

"Thank you very much for your help," he added, but instead of smiling and saying something like "You're welcome", the old doe just snorted unfavorably and gave Ronno a scornful glance. The buck-fawn had walked up to Alani's side and acted as if he didn't notice Nettla's stare. Alani marveled how long it would take until his pride was healed.

"Young fawns are foolish – think to have to prove how tough they are. It's still a few weeks until the rut starts, and the little one over there hasn't even the age to take a mate", Nettla sneered. Friend Owl attempted to reply something, but if he agreed with her or not – the fawns would probably never get to know. His voice was drowned in the strident, slightly hysterical cry of another doe.

"Ronno!"

The twigs of the bushes snapped and crackled, joined by the rustling of leafs, as Ronno's mother shot out of the undergrowth. She had a rushed, panicking look to her as she was scanning the clearing until she finally spotted the group of deer and the owl. She bounded towards her son, her green eyes widened with worry.

She didn't even bother to talk, she just bounded over and looked intently at her sons ear. She even licked it, but she soon figured that the wound had closed and Ronno wouldn't die from it.

While she was checking her son for any other injuries, Valentino quietly stepped out of the bushes. He moved every single leg so carefully that the friends almost wouldn't have heard him, not to speak of his dark coloring, which made him hardly visible in the dark.

Casually, he walked over and took his place next to his brother. "Hi guys," he greeted Caio, Alani and Marena. Ronno was still too busy dealing with his mother to even notice that his friend was back.

But the three other fawns greeted Valentino. Alani wasn't sure how to judge his behavior. Before he had left, he had been so angry with her, and now, he was smiling. If he was still upset, he didn't let anyone notice. Instead, he grinned and motioned his head towards Ronno's mother.

"She ran like the wind when I told her about Ronno. She didn't even let me finish talking."

"Can you blame her? Mother would act just like that if one of us was hurt," his brother replied. Tino glanced at him and shrugged.

"Maybe."

They turned their attention on the scene, not to say drama, before them again.

"Are you okay, my dear?" Ronno's mother asked, her voice shaking. She seemed to be really unsettled, poor doe.

Ronno, on the other hoof, appeared to be rather embarrassed by her. He looked over to his friends, who's faces altered between amused smirk and sympathetic smile. Mrs Nettla had raised an eyebrow and shook her head in disdain, and Friend Owl was a silent voyeur once again.

"Mootheer, it's fine!" Ronno complained irritated.

"You're overreacting, my dear," Nettla spoke up. Ronno's mother looked up at her and flicked her long ears, a bit uncertain. It was obvious that she wanted to ask what the old doe intended to say with this. And it was a pleasure to Mrs Nettla to tell her.

"So your son has learned that one of his age mustn't challenge older bucks – no big deal. I at least hope he has learned his lesson. You should make sure he keeps it in mind, it could end up painful if he doesn't remember it the next time," she declared peremptorily. Dismissively, she added; "Trouble is the only thing one gets with fawns." Alani didn't understand why the old doe took care of Marena then. However, she wouldn't get an answer on that question, at least not this evening, as Nettla seemed to be in atmosphere of departure. "The wound should soon heal, as long as it doesn't infect. I'll leave now. Marena, you can come with me if you want. Goodbye, all of you."

"I'm coming," Marena called quietly, but smiled at her new friends before leaving. "I hope we'll meet again."

"We hope so, too," Caio replied, and both he and Alani and even Valentino returned her soft smile. Marena kept looking at the other fawns for a moment before turning and following Mrs Nettla, who was already heading towards the bushes.

The remaining animals – Ronno, his mother, Alani, the twins and Friend Owl – watched how the green doors of the forest closed behind the two does. The twigs were still shaking, hissing, where they had brushed over the flanks of the deer, but their steps weren't audible.

And with that, their meeting was over, but Alani was positive that there would be more.

They remained standing together for a while. Ronno's mother briefly talked with the fawns and Friend Owl to inform about what exactly had happened. The adult doe looked both worried and disappointed, as well as a little angry, but she kept licking Ronno's head and ear.

Ronno was seemingly really embarrassed; he was quiet and ashamed, since his mother was babying him like that in front of his friends.

Eventually, the doe thanked everyone for their help, and she and Ronno left the clearing together to go home. Ronno didn't object at all, everything seemed fine for him if he only could get out of this situation.

"What a night," Friend Owl said as those two had melted into the shade and green of the forest as well and had disappeared from the friends' sight. He looked at the two remaining fawns.

"Let's hope I'll just have a successful hunt after this terror. I'm saying goodbye as well, my young friends." The owl spread his wings, jumped from his branch, let out a shriek and vanished into the night. Alani and her two friends silently wished him a good hunt, but hoped that none of their friends would fall victim to it – it wouldn't be a surprise, mind you, but certainly very sad.

"And what are we doing now?" Valentino looked at his brother and Alani.

"I don't know…I don't really feel like playing right now", Caio replied. His voice sounded a little distressed. Friend Owl had been right when he had said "What a night". This really wasn't a night to go around and play like they usually did.

"What d'you think about going to the meadow and grazing? I'm hungry," Alani suggested. To her surprise, her friends agreed – maybe they would feel like playing later, and the moonlit meadow seemed to be the perfect place to do so. The looked for the beginning of the trail which led to the meadow and departed, quietly talking to each other.

The green doors swung shut behind them, and soon, they were gone. The fighting place remained silent and peaceful, and merely scuffed earth and a dried-up puddle of blood showed that someone had been there.


End file.
